Painting the Music

This week at Carpe Diem, my young students and I created this painting as we listened to the music of J.S. Bach.  On the first day, we listened to the pipe organ and painted with strong, dark blues and greens, using large brushes and bold strokes.  On the next day, we listened to the harpsichord and painted with sparkling whites, yellows and greens, making short, bright strokes with small brushes.  On the third day, we looked at our finished work and spent time talking about what we saw.  Here are some of the marvelous things my students saw in their painting:

• "Strong Thunder"
• "Like a Festival"
• "Wish of a Dinosaur"
• "Going on the Ferris Wheel"
• "I'm Imagining I was On the Stairs"
• "Nighttime on a Special Friday"
• "It Snowed"
• "Night Near the City"
• "I See the Sun Coming Up"
• "It's Rotating"
• "Bananas and Hot Dogs"
• "I See a Flower Down in the Deep Cold Water"
• "Mezzazoo"
• "Raindrops on the Stairs"
• "A Bonker Party"
• "A Tiger is Hiding in the Circle"
• "Different Moons"
• "Everybody Throwing Candy in the Air"
• "A Pinata Falling Down"
• "Flowery Night"
• "Broken Necklace"
• "Lights on a Tree"
• "A Canoe Going for a Ride in the Water"
• "I See a Shark Down There"
• "Rain Beads"

These students range in age between 2 and 5.  About sixty-five of them worked on the painting, in class groups of 8 to 14 students.