Focus of the project

Teaching children is not for the faint of heart. They ask questions, important, curveball, tangential questions that must be addressed while keeping the train of thought on the rails.



The remit of the Esther Plotnick Artist grant is classroom engagement to increase awareness of botanical art, but why use lichens as a fulcrum? Well, aside from lichens being my particular rabbit hole, they are ubiquitous, unsung, and largely misunderstood. Studying them helps students recognize interrelationships in the botanical realm. When lichens are healthy, so too is the biome; likewise, they are sentinels of pollution and climate change. Foremost, they are enthralling when enlarged! I can make this magic happen through magnification in the classroom.

Using lichens and scaling, I introduce aspects of botany, science, vocabulary, math, and art tools and skills to engage students in age-appropriate ways. I consider this a bit of pureed spinach in the old brownie recipe. I do not mention that Cartesian coordinates are pre-algebra to younger students, (whispers) but they are!  

Scope of the project

Before delving into the presentation, I must explain the project’s logistics. My target audience was elementary students. Teaching a handful of high schoolers was a bonus. The initial task involved assessing the budget to determine materials’ ease of use, what exactly was needed and, frankly, how much I could carry around in New York’s subway system. I obtained discounts and free services in some cases and donated materials for the pieces I created to stretch the budget. I live in New York City and my fascinating fruticose lichens hail from Central Texas where I have family. Independent and Montessori schools in both locations were particularly welcoming. My next step was to meet with educators to shape the lesson. Their guidance included engaging students by asking questions, allowing for wiggle time, making clear slides and bringing props.

Outcomes of the project

The outcome was fourteen presentations reaching 2^nd – 10^th grades in three cities: New York City, New York, Austin and San Antonio, Texas. I painted six lichen mini studies, 4”x4”, and sold them with proceeds donated to the grant. I launched the @LichensInTheLimelight Instagram account to publicize artwork and classroom engagement. Two lichen portraits were also created: ‘Wrapt’ a piece of Parmotrema hypotropum, colored pencil on 11”x14” paper at 1:5, and ‘On the Turn,’ a cluster of waterlogged, dying Punctelia bolliana and Parmotrema cetratum on Quercus fusiformis, colored pencil on 11”x14” paper at 1:6. The plan is to enter these into exhibitions to further publicize the grant.

Some interesting conversations!

Cast your mind to a classroom, as the slideshow begins with the question, “What is botanical art?” The child-friendly version of the term’s definition from Robin Jess and Carol Woodin’s Botanical Art Techniques book is the answer: “Art that shows plants or fungi accurately, that tells the story of where, on what, and how the subject grows, and that is handmade using pencils, colored pencils, pen and ink, and watercolor among other media. 

We chat about botanical artists they might know. Maria Sybilla Merian is part of the art curriculum in New York at the moment because of recent exhibitions and children’s books about her. Many of the kids were as surprised as I was that Beatrix Potter had interests beyond Peter Rabbit. This led to discussions about art as a vocation and Potter’s mycological studies with older students.

Student: "What's your favorite color?"                                                                                                            

CF: “My favorite color is the orange from Teloschistes lichens because it’s bright and energetic.”



As I explain what a lichen is, the presentation enters a new format. Students see a factual statement: Lichens are a symbiosis of a fungus and an alga (and/or a cyanobacteria) and I pose questions: “Does anyone know what a fungus is? How about the word cyan? What do we know about Latin plurals? Are any of these words familiar? Who can tell us what photosynthesis is? What do you think happens if the water or air around a lichen is polluted?

An equally important point is what are not lichens. While we examine an image of a damp lichen cluster with lettuce-like lobes, I assure students that lichens are not plants – though some look like plants and flowers. We also cover that lichens are typically not parasites, a topic that has led to some fun and peculiar conversations: “My Dad had a parasite.”

We proceed through slides showing basic lichen facts: lichens grow on three surfaces, there are three types of lichens. I ask what some lichens remind us of and responses range from salad and Velcro (ruffled lichen’s cilia) to the cartoon character Shrek’s ears (powdered horn lichen).

Student: “How old are you?” 

CF: “Older than you and younger than this lichen. Lichens are slow growing. The ones you find on rocks may have been colonizing that surface for fifty, a hundred, sometimes even thousands of years.”

Finally, we broach the hands-on part of the presentation: how to draw lichens. First, we must find some and be good stewards of the natural environment doing so, only take what we need and return it to nature when we finish. It is easier to find them when weather is wet.

Student: The last lady who visited brought a chinchilla. Did you bring a chinchilla? 

CF: I left my chinchilla at home, but I did bring some lichens. Let’s spray them with distilled water and see what happens. Spoiler alert: their colors brighten and they plump up eliciting oohs and aahs.

To tackle the problem of speed and size when scaling up in a classroom setting with time constraints, I provide students with a gridded photo, numbered along the x and y axes, enlarged so they can clearly see the outline. After a few classes, I added a second gridded reference photo with a simpler lichen shape. Students have the choice of printed photos and the colored pencil palette works with both.

Each student receives a gridded photo and a piece of graph paper with 1 inch squares, numbered along the x,y axes, with a piece of trace taped over the top and a plotted starting point. I demonstrate plotting several points and send students to their seats to plot the outline. The are also given a bag with an HB pencil, eraser top, Q-tips for blending, and a palette of nine colored pencils. Only take out the pencil and eraser for this step! The teachers and I guide students. The scale jump from the photo to the graph paper is 1:2. Doubling scale is a concept easily grasped.

About ten minutes later, the students gather around a demonstration of how to use colored pencils. We discuss how to hold a colored pencil, sharpen, erase, and blend. They return to their desks and set about toning their scaled up lichens for the rest of class.

The year’s work was challenging, exhilarating and at times hilarious. How lucky I am to have been chosen to fly ASBA’s banner bringing lichens and art into classrooms. My thanks to the family of Esther Plotnick and the grant committee for their faith in me. The work continues!

Student: You’ve explained lichens, what’s a limelight?  

CF: Sigh, from now on, I’ll mention this at the top of my presentation.