Drawing 1 warm-up

Temporary drawings

I had a go at drawing a tree with free-flowing salt onto a blue paper bag background.

Thought I was being clever by putting a fold in the bag so I could pour the salt off into a jar afterwards, but this seriously affected the way the salt lay on the paper. I tried making thick and thin lines by varying my salt flow, but it was tricky to control, and I’m not sure anyone would recognise it as a tree unless I gave them a hint!

Next I tried making a stereotypical child-like drawing of a house using a tub of cheap (but very varied) paintbrushes. I was able to play about more with this, as it appealed to my organising instincts, and much fun was had comparing lengths of brush for matching sets to make windows etc. The thick bushy brushes made good garden shrubs, and I experimented with making curved lines from straight sticks to construct the path.

There was no-one around to photograph me crawling around on the floor of my art-room making either of these, but I would like to try another out in the garden at some stage; I can remember looking at Andy Goldsworthy’s work with the children at school (I was a primary teacher) many moons ago, when we created our works of art down on the foreshore of the River Tavy. The children at that time seemed unconcerned that their masterpieces would be washed away downriver with the next downpour of rain – to them, the making of it was the thing (especially since they knew I had taken photos), and I feel the same – if you accept from the start that the artwork is not meant to last, you are freer just to go for it and enjoy yourself.

So, here is my outdoor temporary artwork – temporary inasmuch as it will only last until the pineapple head rots, the moss dries up, the daisy dies or blows away, or my husband can’t stand looking at it any more. I call it “Fit for a Queen” – I built a throne out of sticks and stones, and a carpet for her feet from moss; the Queen herself is represented by the pineapple crown, whilst the snail shells and the daisy are offerings from her grateful subjects.