Eco-Art: Tools & Materials
Nature - a walk in art supplies and inspirational store!
Seek to Make is an exploration of creativity and making. Each month, I share a monthly theme around making, showcase inspiring makers, share tips, tools and encouragement. Together let's get curious and immerse ourselves in the art of making!
NOVEMBER: ECO-ART
Hello makers,
Today we are taking a look at some of the tools and materials you can incorporate in an eco-art project. It can be as striking and ephemeral as a sculpture made of beach stones, or as intricate and detailed as an embroidered leaf. What you create, is determined by what you notice when you venture into the outdoors. But this doesn’t mean you have to head to an exotic rainforest or drive a million miles through the countryside looking for inspiration. In fact, please don’t do this! You can find what you need in the tiniest of urban spaces. You just have to look.
1. Natural Materials:
There are so many objects in nature that can become art materials. Whether you want to make a twig the hero of your piece or simply look at ways to create natural colours, our outdoor environment can act like a glorious, low-impact, sustainable art supply store!
You might want to experiment with plant-based fibres like leaves, twigs, grasses, seeds, moss, or bark.
Or maybe you are a collector of interesting rocks, stones or shells, pebbles or driftwood. These can all make an amazing foundation for a sculpture, collage, image or creating patterns. Go wild! Just remember to also go lightly (on the environment).
2. Eco-Friendly Paints & Dyes:
You might not want to incorporate giant chunks of wood or rock in your work. Don’t worry, there are so many cool things you can do with natural materials like making dyes! Before we had all these nasty, toxic, synthetic chemicals to dye with, people used plants (shock horror!). I’m thinking this could be a whole theme in itself so watch this space, but you could experiment this month with creating dyes and paints from things like leaves, berries, onion skins, avocado seeds, turmeric, tea and coffee grains.
3. Found Objects:
I’ve been specifically focusing on natural materials for this months theme, but you don’t have to just use sticks and stones. You can incorporate any abandoned or discarded items you can find. Think of things like old keys, wire scraps, broken ceramics, bread bag tags, bottle tops, sea glass, beach plastic, etc. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of discarded items in our environment, so bring out your inner eco-warrior, clean it up and create something beautiful.
If you are interested in this months theme, just remember that minimising your environmental impact while expressing your creativity is the key.
I hope that kicks of some ideas for you and I would love to hear what you want to experiment with this month! Let me know below and lets share our eco-art projects!
Happy making,
Esta