Whenever I want to be awed by an artist I take a look at some of the work done by Andy Goldsworthy If you want to develop the art of patience, this is a great place to start. Goldsworthy is a British sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. What that means is; as Goldworthy states “I enjoy the freedom of just using my hands and “found” tools – a sharp stone, the quill of a feather, thorns. I take the opportunities each day offers: if it is snowing, I work with snow, at leaf-fall it will be leaves.”
Basically, this means, work with what you’ve got! This is a perfect project for right now. You can use anything for this – you can go for a walk and do a “site-specific sculpture” down by the Humber river using rocks, twigs, and leaves that are there – arrange them in an interesting design and when you are finished, take a photo and leave the creation to naturally decompose. Or, if you have a back yard, gather things you see there – perhaps you can use the petals of a flower or two, some leaves, little stones anything can be used! For me, I used fruits, nuts, and seeds I had in the kitchen and arranged them into a pattern.
Supplies you will need:
Camera
When you are done your nature creation take a picture, and send it to us at artinactiontoronto@gmail.com we’d love to see it! Then, in the style of Andy Goldsworthy, if you can, leave your creation to naturally decompose. I decided to put mine out in the birdhouse to see what happens….and success! See the lady cardinal there having a snack? I wonder when the squirrels and blue jays will notice the peanuts?
