Replicating Monet’s Water Lilies (in 3-D)

My son’s art teacher exposed him to the mastery of Claude Monet. To piggyback on what he was learning at school, I thought we’d make our own impressionism replica of his gardens at Giverny, specifically the ponds with their spectacular water lilies.

First we read about Claude’s life, learned about what impressionism was, and discovered the artist’s infatuation with the way light reflected off of all the things in nature.

Then I gave my son some watered-down acrylic paints and a big sheet of art paper. He painted it blue with hints of lavender. He was discouraged that he didn’t get the whole paper covered. I reminded him that the lighter (or white) spots would just look like light reflecting on the water. Suddenly the very thing that he found frustrating was a source of pride!

I sped up the drying time with my hair dryer. Then he traced some lily pad shapes onto sticky-backed sheets of green foam. When they were cut out, he peeled off the paper backing and attached the pads to the water.

Next, I cut apart a cardboard egg carton. Then, with scissors he cut lots of V shapes out of their edges to look like the lily pad flowers.

All that was left to do was paint each, blow them dry, and glue them atop the lily pads.

This idea came from Judy Press’ book Around-the-World Art & Activities.