Key Stage

KS2 (ENG), KS2 (NI), CfE L2 (SCO), PS3 (WAL), KS3 (ENG), KS4 (ENG), KS3 (NI), KS4 (NI), CfE L4 (SCO), CfE L3 (SCO), KS3 (WAL), KS4 (WAL), KS5 (ENG), KS5 (NI), CfE Sen. (SCO), KS5 (WAL)
Art term
Created by

Art UK
Topics

Art, Reading and writing, Seasons

About this activity

This activity is all about words and pictures encouraging creative responses to artworks through words and poetry.

It is an activity that self-directed learners might have fun with, or that families can enjoy together. It would also work well as a classroom or homework activity.

Differentiation

The 'Have a go!' activity instructions have been written as a self-directed activity. Younger children or less able students may need more help with researching and writing their haiku.

What is a haiku?

The haiku is a short Japanese poem that often responds to nature and the changing seasons. In seventeenth-century Japan, they were often written by artist-poets (most famously Matsuo Bashō) who would incorporate them into haiga paintings.

In their English variant, haikus tend to be composed of three lines with the following syllabic structure:

Five syll-a-bles first,
then sev-en syll-a-bles next,
then a fin-al five.

Sometimes English haikus have fewer syllables per line, but in most cases, the middle line will be the longest.

The haiku form is a good way to experiment with writing poetry if you are new to it.

It is a short form so is quick to read, write and share.
Rhyme clichés are easily avoided as no rhyming is required.
It encourages writers to focus on something visual and concrete (like an artwork!), which is always a good starting point for writing poetry, rather than getting caught up in abstract thought.

Kites on a Summer Sunday

Doris Maugham (d.1983)

Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, mima

Take a look...

Here is an example of a haiku inspired by a summery artwork, written by writer and Art UK Learning Officer Shane Strachan.

Tethered to my grip,
the kite tries to free itself
from earth's hold on me.

Have a go!

Have a go at creating your own haiku inspired by the seasons. Here's how...

1. Inspiration: choose an artwork that inspires you

We have pulled together some summer, autumn, winter and spring-themed artworks below for you to use as a starting point.

You could also search Art UK's website to find your own artworks. (Search for the names of the seasons, and also try searching for words that you associate with the different seasons such as 'snow', 'buds', 'sunshine', 'holidays' and 'harvest'.)

Search for artworks on Art UK

Winter

Browse winter-themed artworks and choose one that inspires you.

Footprints in the Snow Ronald A. H. Craig (b.1927)
Winter Words Paul Taylor (b.1961)
Woman in Medicine (Self Portrait) c.2004 Adrienne Winter (b.1938)
Winter Palace 1981 Bridget Riley (b.1931)
Winter Work, Brunswick Road, Buckley 1993 Joseph Chesters (b.1946)
Glacier, Rock Forms 1950 Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912–2004)
Winter Evening 1975 James H. Fairgrieve (b.1944)
Ski Jacket 1994 Peter Doig (b.1959)
The Blue Shadow 1963 Kathleen Harris (1880–1963)
Children in the Snow Ruskin Spear (1911–1990)

Spring

Put a spring in your step (or words!) with these spring-themed artworks.

Spring Clean 2010 Mariette Voke (b.1963)
Untitled (Girton College Grounds) 2006 Colin Osborn (b.1954)
Spring Colour Study No. 11 1993 Mary Webb (b.1939)
Spring Hatch Jill Christine Ibrom (b.1942)
Spring Christopher Corr (b.1955)
Spring 1916–20 Laura Knight (1877–1970)
Spring 1972 Winifred Burnett
Spring 1965 Sonia Lawson (1934-2023)

Summer

Warm up your inspiration with these summery artworks.

Mornington Crescent – Summer Morning II 2004 Frank Helmuth Auerbach (1931–2024)
Self Portrait with Sun Hat c.1964 Robert Sinclair Thomson (1915–1983)
Summer Eclogue 1951 Robert Medley (1905–1994)
Love on the Costa del Sol c.1983 Alberto Morrocco (1917–1998)
Fernhill III: 'under the new made clouds' 1976 John Elwyn (1916–1997)
July, the Seaside 1943 Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976)
The Hop-Pickers c.1930 Thomas Saunders Nash (1891–1968)
Pobl Fel Ni / People Like Us 1993 John Clinch (1934–2001)

Autumn

The days are drawing in… Feel inspired by autumn's colours.

Autumn Remembered Terence Coyle
Keele Hall 1989 Shi-he Dai (b.1948)
Autumn Flowers (Chair) 2007 Nina Saunders (b.1958)
Autumn Leaves 1875 William McTaggart (1835–1910)
Autumn Evening 1970 John Bowen (1914–2006)
Gathering Wood 1990s William Graham (1923–2011)
Feeding the Ducks 1885 William Edward Stott (1855–1918)
Harvest 1960–1961 Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley (1921–1963)

2. Note down your first thoughts

Write down your first impressions of the artwork you have chosen.

This could be about what you can see in the artwork (the scenes, the colours, etc.) or what it makes you feel. It could also be about a memory that the artwork makes you think of.

3. Write your haiku

Use your notes to write your haiku.

Choose the words or ideas that you like best and see if you can form them into the structure of a haiku.

Remember that haikus are usually composed of three lines with the middle line being the longest. And they often have a syllabic structure of five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line and five in the last line.

Try writing a few haikus experimenting with different words and ideas, and choose the one that you think works best.

Weaving with a haiku in Doric

textile by Frieda Strachan, poem by Shane Strachan. English translation: 'Summer is here / with a white sheet of sea-mist / to blanket us'

Make a haiku artwork

As well as being inspired by art, why not make your haiku into an artwork?!

In traditional Japanese culture, haikus were often incorporated into paintings. You could add your haiku to a drawing or painting about the theme that your haiku explores.

Scottish fibre artist Frieda Strachan has incorporated a summer haiku, written in North East Scots (Doric), into a small woven tapestry.

What could you make with your haiku?