Halloween history and the Stingy Jack Legend

                         

                         Halloween ppt from marinosa

In order to understand where this well-known popular Irish tradition comes from, we devoted one session to telling the story of Stingy Jack, the origin of the present famous pumpkin  we use on Halloween  to scare away the evil spirits.  

According to an Irish legend, Stingy Jack used to be a scoundrel fond of drinking and evil. On two occasions the Devil came for his soul but Jack played a trick on him avoiding death. When he finally died, unable to enter Heaven because of his evil behaviou in lifer, he went down to Hell's door where he met the Devil, who, keeping his word, took revenge on Jack and did not let him in. That's why Stingy Jack was punished to wander in the dark with a burning coal as a lantern for the rest of eternity.

Read this old Irish story about how the scoundrel "Stingy Jack" became " Jack-o-lantern' , the popular scary pumpkin. Click here for reading the story : Legend of Stingy Jack,

Watch this video of a film short performing the legend.

       

Understanding colour and its subjective use in art

Let us analyse colour from an objective and subjective approach: types of colours, their relationship to one another and its function in the French movement The Fauves, led by Henri Matisse, who revolutionised the use of colours in painting  in order to use them as an expressive element of the artist's vision of the world.

         

Colour from marinosa

Understanding phrasal verbs

Watch this video revising  the use of phrasal verbs in everyday English: what they are and how they are used.

The psychology of colours

Colours arise particular feelings and emotions. We all have a personal favourite colour or choose a particular one to wear depending on the situation or our state of mind. Evidence of this "psychology of colours" is their use in marketing and advertising.

                                     
      Infographic made by GraphicSprings                                                          

       http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html



       What meanings do colours convey?

Mobile phones and social isolation

Are social media making us unsociable?

How are mobile phones destroying face-to-face conversations?

Is technology really making us happier?

Watch this video called "Look up" which focuses on the need to take our eyes off the screens in order to live and enjoy real life


        

David Lynch on creativity

This animated short explains filmmaker David Lynch's vision of the creative process compared to fishing as ideas are "They're ready to be caught". He also questions the idea of art deriving from suffering , as he says "any kind of suffering cramps the flow of creativity".