Richard Long is an artist who uses the natural world to inspire his work. One of his popular pieces is the ‘River Avon Mud Fingerprints Spiral’.

Why not try a fingerprint spiral of your own?

This NATURE SHORT uses paint for the mark making, but you could use mud, chalk or perhaps crayons. Alternatively you could create a spiral using natural objects, such as leaves or stones, that you might have in your garden or can find near your house.

What other examples of ‘spirals in nature’ can you find?

Here is another NATURE SHORT from artist designer Emma Molony.

Emma shares how to make simple prints with paint and plants. It’s an easy activity for any age (adults included!) and a great way to explore the beautiful patterns we can find in nature.

“As a printmaker, I was interested to see how paints worked instead of inks to make some simple prints at home using found materials from our walks.”

 

This ‘NATURE SHORT’, from Devon-based contemporary artists Megan Calver and Gabrielle Hoard, is an insight into a project they are developing for working with Honiton’s young people. It is also an invitation for you to experiment at home.

Part of the THG ARTIST ROOMS Richard Long exhibition and inspired by artist Richard Long’s use of words in relation to landscape, they have used the following text to connect play with words and nature.

‘about body unknown, with something alien, the human talk’

Swapping outdoor rivers and ponds for buckets, basins and baths in our homes, writing the words on items such as wax paper (to stand in for floating leaves and logs), the activity relies on  flows of water and air to rearrange and edit the words, making new ‘narratives from nature’.

Following investigations into coastal erosion, artist Jo Lathwood was inspired by sea defences to create her sculptural artwork: Tetrapods – geometric structures made from local stone (clay, sandstone, gypsum, salt, chalk) found on the beaches along the Jurassic coast.

It was always Jo’s intention to return the tetrapods back to the sea to dissolve.

This film, created by her collaborator, photographer Paul Blakemore, shows the final stage of the tetrapod journey as they are returned to the waters from which they came.