Nature Made Pattern a la Andy Goldsworthy
by Apr 21st, 2011 // Just for Fun, Nature Made, Sculptures
Nature Made Pattern a la Andy Goldsworthy
The first time I saw Andy Goldsworthy’s work was when a friend took me to see his movie Rivers and Tides. I was completely blown away. And totally enamored. Goldsworthy creates art with natural materials, usually in a natural setting and then lets his creations succumb to nature.
Andy Goldsworthy, Leaf River Stone, 4 October 1999
From Time by Andy Goldsworthy, 2000
He preserves his work with photography, thank goodness. He works with ice, leaves, rain, flowers, rocks, mud, you name it. He puts giant snowballs in urban settings. He lays down on a road in the rain, lets the road get wet around him and photographs his dry silhouette. He puts together chains of leaves in a rainbow of colors and sets them free down a creek. His work is stunningly beautiful and poignant. His patience and meticulousness is amazing.
Andy Goldsworthy, Straight sticks laid around river boulder, Woody Creek, Colorado, September 2006
Courtesy Haines Gallery
To spend so much time working on something only to watch it fade away is an artform in itself. I showed my kid some of his artworks and his face lit up. He was so excited to make one himself. There are some beautiful books about his work or you can check out this archive.
There is one tree we pass by on our neighborhood dog walk that drops the loveliest red petals. We collected a bunch in my littler kids push car and started grabbing whatever else we could find. We continued in our own yard. Once we had a good pile we started making pictures and patterns.
Our creations kept changing as we added leaves and twigs and petals. We tried several different patterns and my kid loved showing me all the leaves he kept finding in the yard.
I had my camera and my kid had his too and we both took pictures of what we made together. We left our art for the next day to see what happened to it. It definitely became, shall we say, disheveled but that is what the elements (and feet) do. We did pretty well with this in the spring, but can’t wait to try again in the fall when we can find more colors in the leaves. Now for the instructions…
Nature Made Pattern
Prep Time: 10 minutes Active Time: 10 minutes
Supplies
Whatever you find as you explore nature: leaves, flowers, seeds, twigs, etc.
Go outside and collect whatever you can find, paying attention to color, texture, shape and size. Find a place to layout your stash and start putting the elements together in a pattern or design. If you can, leave it and observe what happens to it the next day. Don’t forget your camera so you can keep a record of what you made.
Such a great project to do and for Earth Day, too!
another awesome project from my art muse.
I love this!! What a great way to create while outdoors!