Presented by Adelaide Sustainability Centre & Soul Strong Society
Connecting Place, Materials And Making Through Local & Sustainable Art Practice
Sustain your connection to place, your art practice and the environment. Learn to make natural inks, unique brushes and charcoal using local renewable materials.
Today’s artist is largely separated from the environments and communities affected by the paints, paper, and materials which they use. The consequence is that we never see our raw materials in situ – in place. We become alienated from nature, each other and the immediacy of life.
In this workshop we will be creating artworks in ‘living colour’ with local materials gathered and made with our own two hands. Satish Kumar calls it ‘the dignity of making’; “Our hands are instruments of alchemy. They can transform base material into something extraordinary.”
What makes, feels good!
You will learn about
- Gathering, collecting and creating with natural plant and mineral pigments and materials
- The artistic skills our artist ancestors practiced for generations before us, including creating; foraged inks, vine and willow charcoal, natural fixatives, and natural brushes.
Included in the workshop
- Seasonal local materials (berries, flowers, plants, vine / willow or wisteria cuttings and ochres)
- Natural materials such as local bees wax, paraffin, and other equipment needed to get you started
- Take home notes
Ideal for
- Artists who want to create a sustainable practice
- Anyone who loves their urban wilderness and the idea of exploring living colour with the plants and minerals in their local area
- People interested in the process of making and the ideals of the ‘slow movement’ which aims to help us connect with our environment and community
What to Bring
- Please wear closed-in shoes and old clothes for getting messy
- Your own local berries, food scraps, flowers, ochres (ink pigments), willow and vine (charcoal), twigs, feather, hair etc (brushes) to experiment with
- Any preferred paper or drawing surface you like, to try out art materials
- Empty jars with lids to take home your natural ink
- Jute or string, scissors and secateurs if you have them
- Notebook, pen, camera or phone to record what you learn
Facilitator
Alana Gregory is an environmental artist (www.alanagregory.com) and founder of Soul Strong Society (www.soulstrongsociety.com) an initiative created to facilitate human and environmental health through the practices of mindfulness, movement and creativity. Alana combines a background in environmental science with 20 years practice and study with traditional and Indigenous artists from around the world.
The Adelaide Sustainability Centre is supported by the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board and Conservation SA.