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The birds sing sweetly in the cherry and apple trees. As a straw-hatted Claude Monet opens the door

to his home. He steps outside, stroking his long grey beard, and scans the Claude Norman.

His grand garden. The petals of newly-budded flowers, pink, violet, white, and red,

are glistening with dew. He smiles, satisfied with the view, and reaches down to grab a small leather

satchel and a wooden easel. Down the gravel path he walks, stopping in front of an enthusiastic

row of pianies. With a squint of his eye, Monet scans the pink blooms, noting their tightly-packed

petals. A honeybee drones softly nearby. The air, though still cool, warms up with every moment.

Yes, Monet thinks. This will be today's painting site.

Monet opens his collapsible wooden easel, studying its tripod legs atop the grey gravel path.

He bends down to his satchel and opens it. Uncovering short-haired paintbrushes, a wooden palette for mixing

colours, and several tubes of oil paint. Even now, 40 years after its invention, Monet is still enamored

with the portability of paint tubes. The ease of use of these paints means he can work outside,

quickly, squeezing ribbons of paint across his canvas, or combining them upon his palette.

Painting outside, what artist's cool, unplanned air was one of Monet's specialities since his early days.

The young artist spent hours staring across the beaches and docks of his hometown, Le Havre,

in the Normandy region of France. He noticed how the colours of the ocean morphed as the day progressed,

or as the weather changed. Imagine the aqua marine or teal waves of a bright summer's day,

...