A passionate and purposeful book on finding real creativity through
nature.
An essential book for our times and all artists at whatever level. In
her most passionate and personal book to date, acclaimed watercolour
artist Ann Blockley takes both budding and more experienced artists
through a series of ideas for working with nature - in its widest
sense - to nurture our creativity, inspire us, make us more sustainable
artists, and replenish energy and flow when our artistic streams run
dry.
In 'Go Outside and Play', the author exhorts artists to recapture a fun,
no-pressure way of being outside and use that feeling when creating. In
'Connecting Materials to Place' she creates her own paint from the local
pond. In 'The Slow Movement', the artist reveals her year of working on
a specific local hedgerow and painting a series of different
interpretation in its every-changing detail. She created regular
creative rituals, using her weekly playing card as a starting point for
a new painting to reflect the season each week. She reuses old
paintings, and tissue and paper - wabi-sabi style - to create new
textures and even new paintings.
Including work from other artists as well as her own, she shows the
ideas and work from textile and mixed-media artists. From allotment
inspiration to reusing old painting and from nature prints to the
alchemy of found materials, this is a journey to find new creativity
through our connection with our natural world.
