Bumbershoot is another word for umbrella, according to Merriam-Webster. Sitting at home, waiting for April showers, provides time for looking up information we might otherwise ignore. Today, it was umbrella. As I drew this picture, I instantly thought, “This is a bumbershoot.” It’s too big for the child, and yet, there s/he is walking in the rain, safe beneath the umbrella.
My search terms were “history of umbrellas” and “umbrellas in art,” because I know many impressionists painted umbrellas. I chose the following sites of the many because I can tell who is providing the information and can verify the information in other places.
Wikipedia [a first stop for general information]: Umbrella
Wikimedia includes several categories of media about umbrella: Media Index, including a category for my search “Umbrellas in Art.” The site even provides a slideshow of this category: Slideshow of Umbrellas in Art. I love this public domain art by Maurice Brazil Prendergast done in 1899:
Google Culture and Arts provides current, historical, and art history about umbrellas: Umbrella or Parasol. It includes a 1890 painting of a Japanese umbrella maker from the Getty Museum.
Artic.edu includes this information about art history and the umbrella: A Plethora of Umbrellas I found this by adding this search term: site:edu
Architecture Art Designs shares 23 Incredible Umbrella Installations — artistic displays with umbrellas.
Project Gutenberg provides an ebook about the History of Umbrellas.
So today, I journeyed through time and art to discover a wonderful world of umbrellas, dating far back into Chinese history in the sixth century. For shade and protection from storms, these unique inventions have been with humans a long time.
Prompt:
Now, what captures your imagination? What will you search for? What key words will you use to find accurate and relevant information?
This post is a Slice of My Life, part of a March Slice of Life by The Two Writing Teachers with tweets at #sol20