This Sunday. Art activations begin in the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve!
These are special times—11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the second Sunday of each month in 2019—to come out to the preserve and honor it with your art, or by thinking about the desert in a more artful way.
The activations begin this Sunday with an opportunity to see nature in a different way by making a golden ratio finder. The golden ratio, or Fibonacci sequence, is an ancient way of finding the beauty of nature and art. We will create the golden ratio finders, and then look around the desert to find where it applies!
Fibonacci spiral, also known as the golden ratio
One of my favorite ways to explain the golden ratio is to let Donald Duck do it in this 1959 cartoon “Donald in Mathmagic Land.” Want more? Check out “Fibonacci Sequence Documentary - Golden Section Explained.”
So come out and make a golden section finder with me, and put the every second Sunday of the month on your calendar! All supplies are provided. All ages and experience levels are welcome.
Here’s what we have in store for 2019:
March 10 – Make a Golden Section finder.
See the desert like an artist. Make a golden section finder, and find how nature creates perfect proportions in the desert, and take then it home with you to find perfect proportions everywhere!
April 14 – Make a photograph without a camera.
Since the mid-1800s, naturalists have used the photographic process of cyanotype to record plants they found throughout the world. Now artists use it to make beautiful images. Make your own cyanotype using items found on the desert floor and take home a beautiful image of the desert.
May 12 – Paint a tile inspired by the desert floor.
Make a tile for you or your mom. Using the desert floor as our inspiration, we will create beautiful abstract tiles. These are perfect as Mother’s Day gifts!
June 9 – Painting the desert in watercolor washes.
We will experiment with wet-on-wet watercolor techniques to depict the dry desert.
July 14 - Finding words and images.
What comes first, the idea or the image? In this art activation, participants will first write a haiku about the desert on lovely watercolor paper, and then illustrate it with markers!
August 11 – Make a rain stick.
It’s been a very, very long time since we’ve had rain. Doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten the sound of it. Come out to the Prime Desert Woodland and make your own rain stick!
September 8 – Paint a desert scene with crayons. Watercolor crayons!
Draw a picture of the desert with crayons, and then use a paintbrush and water to turn it into a watercolor masterpiece!
October 13 – Making masks inspired by desert animals.
Go to Halloween as your favorite desert animal. Will you be a jackrabbit, raven, or a bobcat?
November 10 – Drawing desert bugs.
Sometimes it seems as if there is nothing alive in the desert. But that’s just not so. We will look for bugs, then examine them with magnifying glasses, and then draw them.
December 8 – Perfecting Polaroids.
Come to the Prime Desert Woodlands and have your picture taken with the desert as your backdrop. And then, use our paint and unusual framing supplies to make that image into a personal piece of art!
See you Sunday!