Students in Kindergarten and First Grade have been learning about the artwork of French painter Claude Monet.

They learned that Monet was an Impressionist painter who loved to paint outside in the open air, not in a stuffy studio! This type of painter is called a plein air landscape painter. He was particularly interested in painting light and how light changes colors throughout the day and throughout different seasons. Later in his life, Monet bought a piece of property in France, and with the help of gardeners, transformed the land into a beautiful garden with bridges, ponds, trees and lily pads. Much of the art that he is famous for today are works that he painted of his gardens. Students looked at his Bridge Over a Pool of Water and used pencil and oil pastels to make a garden, pond and bridge.

Everyone got to choose the color for their bridge. They layered colors on top of each other to show how light can change a color. The students loved seeing the oil pastels blended together. Next week we will be using water color paints and tempera paints to finish the sky, water and flowers in the water.