August 25th 2017
A Day of Land Art, Nature Exploration & Good Food
On the 17th of June we were joined by Land Artists [Richard Shilling](http://richardshilling.co.uk/) and Julia Brooklyn (both from [landartforkids](http://landartforkids.com/)) for an exciting day of outdoor nature art. Today we thought we would share with you everything we got up to and tell you how you can get involved.
The day started with a brilliant 'Hapa Zome' activity led by herbalist Maria Billington, we learnt that this was a method of extracting dye from plants, by placing petals and leaves under cloth and bashing it with a rubber mallet. It was a very therapeutic activity for a lovely sunny day and we all thoroughly enjoyed working outside in our magical Storytelling Area and Sensory Garden. The ‘Hapa Zome’ created some impressive results and by chance some beautiful patterns were created on the logs, as the rich colour from the plants left a beautiful, colourful impression in the wood. During the activity Maria asked us to think about how we relate to plants, to look around and notice plants, and to create 'plant spirits' to guard and look after nature. Through ‘Hapa Zome’ we were able to investigate the community garden in a new way and find different ways connect with nature.
!'Hapa Zome' Activity & its mark on our logs 'Hapa Zome' Activity & its mark on our logs[/caption] Our next activity was run by one of our visiting Land Artists, RichardShilling, who showed us how to create structures, using found resources from our garden. It was brilliant to realise the potential of the garden as a resource for creating exciting artwork. We started by making 'string' using willow, this allowed us to create a strong material that could be used to hold stones. We also threaded leaves together to create vibrant natural screens, searching out leaves with rich colour. When these creations were hung up in the trees, the sunlight bursting through them created beautiful transparent, glowing colours. !Maria talking to the group Maria talking to the group[/caption] During the course of the day we learnt about how Richard works with various groups of children and adults to create Land Art across the country. He helps them to find materials to create art with in any natural landscape. We all finished the morning feeling inspired and ready for more. Luckily there was more to come. !Everyone hard at work creating their Land Art and Richard displaying some willow & rock art Everyone hard at work creating their Land Art and Richard displaying some willow & rock art[/caption] After an enjoyable shared lunch of many homemade dishes, including focaccia bread made by Howard, wonderful salads and amazing cake made by artist Kanj, we continued to create more wonderful Land Art structures. This time we worked with a mud mixture, which was like clay, and we were able to combine this with flowers, stalks and twigs to make small sculptures, which now live on the logs in the entrance to our Sensory Garden. The combination of natural materials worked so well and everyone was so pleased with their creations. A truly wonderful day. !Some mud art on the logs Some mud art on the logs[/caption] Richard and Julia will be returning in October for our History Heritage and Art Weekend, which is taking place on 14th& 15th October 2017. We are so excited to welcome them back, alongside allotment historian Twigs Way, and can’t wait for you to meet everyone & get involved. For more information about our Open Weekend visit @BoundaryWayArts on Facebook or send us an email at boundarywayproject@gmail.com, we’d love to hear from you.
