Challenge 7
After last nights further lockdown by Boris Johnson, we are going to be in need more than ever of things to take our minds off the corona situation. It’s clear that the best thing to do is stay at home.
We are still allowed to take short walks so hopefully people can still do today’s challenge.
I have an amazing array of talented artists that I work with. Non more so than Tanya Russell (www.tanyarussell.com). Tanya set up the Art Academy back in 2000 and without her vision, tenacity and hard work 10’s of thousands of people would have missed out on an experience of studying art at the highest level. She’s now working from her West Wales Studio and I’ve asked her to help out with some exercise with a sculptural twist. She has created this exercise with her equally talented mum Lorne McKean (http://lornemckean.com). HAVE FUN!
Creating sculptures with wood/twigs/grasses and string
Materials and equipment:
Scissors
String
Natural found objects
A box to carry your found objects in
Step 1.
Go outside to a clear space where there are trees and grasses etc. (keeping a good distance from anyone you dont know!) With a completely open mind about what you are going to make, start looking at bits of wood and twigs and see if you can see some part of an animal or other object. If you keep your eyes and your mind open things will start jumping out at you, like finding shapes in clouds.
In the example below my Mother, Lorne McKean, found a bit of wood that just really had the character of a moose’s head, so she took that as her starting point and then started collecting other bits of wood and twigs to make up the rest of the animal. She was not planning on making a baby moose as well, but then came across the perfect shape of the head and ears and it even had eyes in the right place, so she had to make that as well!
Step 2.
Once you have collected a box of materials and some extra bits that just looked cool and like they might be useful for something, you are ready to start assembling your sculpture.
Carefully start tying the bits of the sculpture together, starting wherever you want, often with the piece that first caught your attention.
In the sculpture shown here the whole piece was done just using string, this creates quite an interesting look and keeps it simple, there are clearly other ways of sticking pieces of wood etc. together which you are welcome to try as well.
Step 3.
Once you have created the main body of your sculpture, you can put on the finishing touches, at this point you might need to go outside again and collect more objects, just the right bit of curly grass for the mane or a spikey twig for the antlers.
Clear the space around the sculpture and set it off nicely if necessary, as in the below, using a bit of grass or moss or what ever is suitable.
Stand back, admire and post a picture!
