START WITH ART: The Lady of Shalott

We START WITH ART each morning with our kids (Jenna's kids are 6 and 10, Janet's is 9). This takes us less than five minutes each morning and tends to be re-visited later in the day at the dinner table or during our evening reading sessions. We find this little exercise each morning ignites creativity and sparks critical thinking. 

Here's how to #STARTWITHART:

Step one: Take a look at the artwork below

Step two: Read the questions below the picture of the art to the students/children in your life

Step three: See how starting your day with art can ignite creativity and critical thinking! 

It's that easy! Let's START WITH ART!

Title: The Lady of Shalott

Artist: John William Waterhouse

Date: 1888

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 153 × 200 cm

Start with Art Questions:

The picture illustrates the following lines from part IV of Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shalott’:

And down the river’s dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
seeing all his own mischance –
With glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.

• Do the words of the poem match the scene in the painting? 

• What do the poem and the painting tell you about the setting of the painting? What details do you see in the artwork that tell you about the location? 

• Describe the colors used by the artist. How do the colors make you feel? 

Add our START WITH ART calendar to yours by clicking here then click "add." Share how you're folding this into your daily routine by tagging us on Instagram @pageofarthistory and/or the tag #startwithart 🖼️