During the month of April, 14 semi-finalists in the children’s category were busily creating masterpieces on their rain barrels to help get the word out about water conservation.
The grand prize winners will participate in DNREC’s annual awards ceremony on Governors Day, at the Delaware State Fair in Harrington. The overall winner, as voted on by fairgoers, will be announced during the ceremony! Learn more about the artists [here]. Click on a picture to see a larger view.
Artist Name: Mirac Kekik, Furkan Kose, Nur Kose, Yusuf Kose, Merve Kekik, Sa’ad Ali Khan, Yusuf Patel, Aarib Syed, Aadil Syed, Hana Hubert, Yousuf Ahmed, Adeeba Allimulla, Huda Kose, Ruhi Khan, ZF Water Miners
Name of Piece: Ocean Beauty
Our ocean scene depicts the diversity of life underwater. Our coral reef and colorful sea animals represent the wonderful world of life in the ocean. By keeping this rain barrel at the Dupont Nature Center, we hope to remind people to keep the ocean safe.
Artist Name: Kassidy Bahel, Caden Emerson, Kimora Sample, Michael Greco Jr., Prabnor Singh, Towne Point Elementary
Name of Piece: Let Learning Bloom
Our rain barrel is an impressionistic field of red poppies modeled after famous works by master artists, Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. Painting our piece, Let Learning Bloom, was really an exercise in learning about styles, techniques and perspective in painting. Students learned to use their fingers and sponges to apply the paint in an impressionistic style while creating a sense of depth of receding space.
Artist Name: Garrett Geidel, Leslie Webb, Brenna Geidel, Oliver Menard, Joshua Menard, and Lida Gannon, Peach Blossom 4-H Club
Name of Piece: Rainfalls mmm Fresh!
Peach Blossom’s rain barrel entry is painted to resemble a Campbell’s soup can, which has a very recognizable logo. Just like Campbell’s soup is “M’m M’m Good”, the water collected within the barrel, or “Rainfalls” are good for the soil and plants. The gold seal found on a Campbell’s soup can was replaced on the barrel by a golden raindrop, which is nature’s gold.
Artist Name: Clarence Fraim Boys & Girls Club
This rain barrel represents all of the different components of the Clarence Fraim Boys & Girls Club community garden club.
Artist Name: Dover Clovers
Name of Piece: Lines Drawn By Nature
This barrel represents elements in nature in a whimsical form. It also has mirrors so that “we” the people of the planet can see ourselves and our place in sustaining nature at its best.
Artist Name: Carter Breasure, Eagles Nest Christian Academy
Name of Piece: Globe
I decided to paint a globe on my rain barrel because the world needs to reuse water more. There are many ways to reuse water that is collected in rain barrels. It can be reused by watering plants, gardens, lawns, and even washing your car. I enjoyed this project.
Artist Name: Chase Herbert Mears, Eagles Nest Christian Academy
Name of Piece: Chase’s Zoo
My rain barrel describes the inner beauty of a zoo. There is peace and joy inside the children who have come to see the animals. There is happiness in the parents seeing their kids happy. Also the animals are enjoying all the people who came.
Artist Name: Chase Wilson, Eagles Nest Christian Academy
Name of Piece: Barrels From Heaven
I chose my idea because I thought it would be unique to have rain barrels falling out of the sky. Another reason why I did it, is because the water coming out of the rain barrel is the water that is saved for watering plants in the picture. Thank you for making this project happen.
Artist Name: Gabriel Ceresini, Eagles Nest Christian Academy
Name of Piece: The Country Side
I made a country side rain barrel. It has mountains, rivers, construction site, a farm, military base, a farm field, lakes, pond, train tracks, garden, roads and cars. I chose this as my theme so people from the city can learn about the country side.
Artist Name: Payton Nowakowski, Eagles Nest Christian Academy
Name of Piece: Aquamarine Tide
I chose my theme because I like the ocean and creatures from it. What a wonderful world that God created. I think it is a wonderful idea to bring this opportunity to schools in the United States. It gives children an idea on how much water is wasted every year. We are fortunate to have rain barrels. How I would describe my rain barrel – beachy and cool. It has many aquatic things.
Artist Name: Samuel Wells, Eagles Nest Christian Academy
Name of Piece: Farmers
My picture on my rain barrel represents all the hard work farmers put into their jobs to help feed this country. If everyone used a rain barrel to conserve water, maybe they could use the water for growing a small garden in their back yard.
Artist Name: Kahiam Mason, F.D. Stubbs Elementary School
Name of Piece: Spring Barrel
I made a flower on my rain barrel, because I think it will look nice in our garden at school. I learned that rain barrels collect water and we can use it to water our flowers in the garden. I made a big sunflower but put red on the petals because it’s my favorite color, and the color green makes me think of nature and springtime.
Artist Name: Daneé Patterson-Bowes, F.D. Stubbs Elementary School
Name of Piece: Sassy
For my rain barrel, I wanted to create a design that used as many colors as possible. I love to express myself with color. It makes me happy when things are bright and colorful. I used the block pattern, because it makes the whole design nice and neat. I think my rain barrel to make to help make my school more colorful.
Artist Name: May Dillard, Molly Mendes, Samantha Connors, Elle Anderson, Kelly Bragg, Marina Santini, and Shame Lammey, Milton Elementary
Name of Piece: A Fine Day on Wagamon’s Pond
We study nature from our outdoor classroom on Wagamon’s Pond. Animals live there, like geese, ducks, frogs, turtles, bees and dragonflies. Water lilies grow like crazy, and there’s a huge oak tree where squirrels and birds live. The ground is covered with a variety of plants; grasses, wild flowers, ferns, and bushes to name a few. We are hoping to find ducklings in our nesting boxes this spring. We want to keep Wagamon’s Pond clean!