We have studied the work of the French artist called Oscar-Claude Monet who was born in 1840. He was a founder of Impressionist painting.  This style of painting is named after Monet's painting, Impressions, Sunrise, which he exhibited in 1874. We learnt that Monet loved painting scenes outdoors and often painted the same scene many times. He did this as he saw the scene change with the light and the weather. He has famously painted a lily pond in his garden many times.  

We looked at the scene of the fields out of one of our large windows in the classroom and noticed how the light changed and the how this and the weather affected the colours we could see at different times of the day. 

After learning a little about the artist himself and his life we started by looking at a variety of his paintings and talking about what we could see. We answered many different questions such as; how does this painting make you feel?  Pretend you are inside this painting, what does it feel like?  What does this painting remind you of?  If Claude Monet were here, what questions would you ask him about this painting?

               

Then we practised our skills of using paint, chalk and pastels to experiment with creating flowers in grass in the Impressionist style. Next we painted our own interpretation of Monet's garden at Giverny near Paris after watching a video of another artist visiting the garden today. We explored different techniques using colour and texture to paint a landscape. The children painted with their finger tips and used cotton buds to paint finer details. It was great, fun learning!