September's Wonder-Adventure Plan

Mother Nature is the artist's best creative mentor. Her masterful hand in texture and pattern is unparalleled, a world just waiting for us to discover. This month we open our eyes to an enchanting world hidden in plain sight - a work of art millions of years in the making - and allow it to inspire our own creative play.

Get September's Adventure Plan

What will we discover when we prowl the landscape for texture and pattern? How can we capture tactility and the memory of touch?

Pay attention to the suggested adventures and let them invite you into nature's art gallery hidden in plain sight!

How To Adventure with Your Guardians:

Curious Rabbits & Wonder-Walkers: Head out for the suggested wonder-walks with the sole intention to observe textures and patterns. Let your fascination lead the way. Make sure to touch what you find, whenever possible and safe.
Magic-Makers: Bring your art tools, camera, pen and journal on your wonder-walks with you. Incorporate rubbings, sketches and macro photography into your textural explorations.
Truth-Finders: Ponder why you're intrigued by certain textures and patterns you encounter in the wild. What does it mean to your personal journey right now?
Secret Gardeners: Dig deep into books on patterns and art forms in nature to inspire your observations. Philip Ball and Ernst Haeckel are two authors to check out.
Myth-Weavers & Enchanted Explorers: How can you weave the adventures of texture and touch into your current work? How will it enrich it?

Low-Hanging Fruit for this Week:

Choose one of the suggested 'Textures' wonder-walks to embark on anytime this week. It can be anything from a short 10-minute walk or stroll in the garden or a long, leisurely 30-minute stroll on the beach.

A Mark-Making Workshop Preparation Video

Create a beautiful, nourishing, mark-making practice as a way to process your memories of touch, texture and nature. This video helps you prepare for the upcoming Mark-Making Workshop (Week 4). Download the Project Booklet below for additional guidelines.

DOWNLOAD PROJECT BOOKLET

Magic-making with your Labyrinth Guardians:

Curious Rabbits & Wonder-Walkers: Gather textural photos or mementoes collected from your wonder-walks. What were you drawn to over and over again?
Magic-Maker: What textures, patterns and colors are you inspired to recreate in your mark-making practice?
Truth-Finder: Print or gather photos from your wonder-walks. Observe the patterns and textures that you gravitate to. Why were you drawn to them? Create a truth-telling spread with these photos.
Secret Gardener: Study the patterns and textures you're drawn to in depth. What caused these marks? What passage of time was involved?
Myth-Weaver: Incorporate mark-making and textures into your current projects. Allegorize them or weave them into the larger themes you're working on.
Enchanted Explorer: Create a Mark-Making practice as a warm-up or creative meditation to help you stay loose and intuitive.

Low-Hanging Fruit for the Week:

Watch the video and print out some of your favorite wonder-walk photos for texture and mark-making inspirations.

A Conversation on Following The Rabbit, Curiosity & Creative Inspiration

Jenn's ceramic art spoke to my wonder-seeking soul from the moment I first saw it at a local art and craft fair. I knew immediately she was a kindred spirit even though we worked in different mediums - her intuitive ceramic pieces seem to beat to the same oceanic drum as my watercolor mood paintings. I was unsurprisingly, very excited to chat with Jenn this month about the huge role nature's textures play in her work, and to find out what her own wonder-walks are like.

Conversation Highlights:

The fascinating intertwining of our inner and outer worlds.
How Jenn's different creative expressions come together, led by nature.
I introduce a book on nature's patterns!
The relationship between textures and emotions.
Tips on being in nature and how to come alive in it.
The best ways to let nature heal and inspire you.

Guest Wonder-Seeker:

Jenn Lamb was born and raised in the west, surrounded by the unique landscape of the California Coast. Her work is inspired by the infusion of coastal and desert ecology. Hiking among the rocks of a pacific grotto as a teen, she felt truly at home on the earth. Those experiences were a balm in a disjointed youth. The connections with nature that were formed in those hiking experiences compels her work forward.

Jenn received her BFA from Otis College of Art + Design. She continues to develop a multifaceted practice as a graphic designer, product designer, and artist. In 2011, she founded Unurth, a small batch ceramic studio that allows her to develop her vision into functional wares accessible in our everyday rituals. She lives in Southern California.

LINKS:

Shop & website: www.unurthhome.com
Social Media: Instagram @unurthwonder

Low-Hanging Fruit For the Week:

Watch the video conversation with Jenn and ponder: what ONE tip will you try out on your next (Textures) wonder-walk?

A Mark-Making Workshop & Hangout

Instead of the usual Gathering, this was a casual, come-as-you-are Workshop Hangout. It felt like an intimate art party at my studio! If you haven't been feeling motivated to create, follow along and get your creative juices going! You can prepare for the workshop by watching this video. I worked primarily with water media but you can 'bring' any of your favorite materials! The objective is to have a fun and relaxing time working with our hands.

Here's what we did during this special Mark-Making Workshop & Hangout: