Clay…Monet…Wednesday (Hooray!)

Wednesday is art day at the school where I teach. And we’ve been up to our eyebrows in lily pads for weeks. All the students did art pieces inspired by Claude Monet’s lily pads and lotus flowers for our 2019 art show.

The younger students don’t have as much experience in drawing, so I had them trace lily pad shapes (cut out from cardboard). Some of the kids raced through the project but others took their time coloring the lily pads.

I thought it would be fun to have the third and fourth graders make lily pads and lotus flowers from clay. We used air dry clay, and after it dried they painted and clear coated the pads. Somehow I did not expect that clay would get all over the place. (I know. I know. Naïve.) There were some very messy class sessions this fall. There was a fine layer of dried clay powder over the entire floor. And clay in unexpected places around the classroom. But mess aside, I was proud of the kiddos for rising to this challenge. It is not easy to create a three-dimensional lotus flower. 

My fifth and sixth grade students made lotus flowers and lily pads from foam and paper. They painted the foam, and used glue to make flowers from paper baking cups. 

Seventh and eighth graders did watercolor paintings inspired by Monet’s work. Some students even copied actual Monet paintings, which is challenging. I am amazed by the variety of their art. Painting a lotus flower is complicated and trying to make it look three-dimensional took patience.

Would you like to know a few fun facts about Monet?

This is one of Monet's many paintings of lily pads.

Monet lived in Giverny, in the north part of France. His home was surrounded by gardens, and he painted outdoors in the gardens. He wanted to capture sunlight and reflection on the water. Monet painted the same scene many times in order to capture the changing light and different seasons.

There were seven gardeners working in Monet’s gardens to ensure that gardens were exactly as he wanted them. Monet wrote daily notes to his gardeners, with layouts for where to put each plant.

Monet spent the final twenty years of his life painting his lilies. In that time he completed approximately 250 paintings of water lilies. (Thanks a lot, Monet, Sarah thought with more than a touch of sarcasm. Now I’m feeling self-conscious about productivity. He churns out oil paintings at the speed of light, and I still have a five foot pile of laundry to put away from last month. I have things on my To Do list from years ago. You’re making me look bad, Monet!)

I hope you enjoyed this peek at my students’ creations. I’ll share more of their work when I’m putting together the art show.

Until then, whichever holiday you’re celebrating this month, may it be a happy one. See you in 2019…