Art from the garden

Activity

Collect natural items from the garden and use famous artists or artworks to inspire your own creations.

  • Estimated time: 30 minutes
  • Location: Outdoors
  • School term: Late Autumn
  • Level of experience: No experience needed
  • Subject(s): Art&DT

Learning objectives

  • To make art with plants
  • To think about different textures, colours and shapes

Preparation

Research artists who have used nature as an inspiration for their artworks.

This activity works well in small groups of five or six.

Equipment

  • Access to natural materials
  • Collecting bags or buckets
  • Secateurs for cutting stems (ensure your group use gloves and are supervised for this)

Step by step

  1. Introduce your group to an artist of your choice. This could be Andy Goldsworthy who uses the outdoors as his inspiration, William Morris who used many plant forms in his designs or Mondrian whose graphic images feature colour blocks.
  2. Decide which design or style you will use. In the photo example, a simple willow frame marks out the area. Rope or string could also be used to do this. 
  3. Collect the natural materials bearing in mind the colours and textures you want to create. 
  4. Create the artwork using simple pegs which can be cut from willow or pegs to hold the leaves in place. Remove the artwork before grass in that area turns yellow or when the art becomes ‘tired’.

Hints & tips

  • Alternatively, use a scavenger hunt style activity and create art from the found objects.
  • This activity is part of Sensory Sensations class growing topic.