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CLAUDE MONET
Oscar-Claude Monet was born November 14, 1840 in Paris. He grew up in Normandy and was very close to his mother. From an early age, he was interested in art, which his mother approved. However, his father disapproved and wanted him to pursue business. His mother passed when he was 16 and he was sent to live with his wealthy, widowed Aunt. He went on to study at the Académie Suisse for painting. His early works were many landscapes, seascapes, and portraits, all of which got very little attention. He was then called to service in the Chasseurs d'Afrique. He was sent to Algeria. Monet said that this time in Algeria had a powerful effect on him and later inspired the vivid colors in his pieces. After his return, he began to develop a specific art style called "Impressionism". He is considered the driving force of Impressionism. Towards the end of his life, he was left depressed after the death of both of his wives and several of his children. He began to develop cataracts and struggled to paint, so he developed a method of labeling his tubes and wearing a straw hat to prevent glare. He eventually accepted cataract surgery and began to paint "full force" again. Monet died of lung cancer on December 5, 1926, and at the time of his death, Waterlillies was technically unfinished.
WATER LILIES
Water Lilies is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by Monet. The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny and were the main focus of his artistic production during the last thirty years of his life. Many of the works were painted while Monet suffered from cataracts.
CONSTRUCTION AND REFLECTION
To construct this piece I used techniques I used from cake decorating, specifically for the petals. I would roll out a very small ball of very wet clay and place it into the slab "pond" I constructed. I would then use a small wooden tool to press into the bead of clay to make a peal shape. I repeated that process over and over again. I thought that making this piece very small would make it faster but it was quite hard to underglaze and not have it
look super messy. I liked that I had a good amount of creative freedom with this piece because not only were there over 200 pieces to gather inspiration from, but the paintings are highly interpretive, considering they are impressionist paintings. I think that my interpretation of it turned out okay. My technique for making the petals worked very well I think, and I like the color of the border and of the lily-pads. If I had to do it again I would make it a little bit bigger to make it easier to paint, and I would also add more variation in color. I also think that reflections in the water with a little bit of color would have elevated it and made it look even more like Monet's original works.
