The point of playtime...
Away from my desk, I grow things, I draw things growing – and sometimes I join it up, turning growing things into things to draw with.
I’ve saved petals from French marigold dead-headings. For a while, I’ve been using the basic method of hot water and salt to turn petals into ink; here, I’ve made a second jar with white vinegar, which I found out about at Cordwainers Dye’s eco-printing class (Thank you, Debbie). Vinegar makes the colour more intense. And it behaves differently on different bits of waste paper.
Which is all great for drawing – but how is this relevant to the rest of my practice?
Well, curiosity, for starters. It’s at the heart of every design and creative direction project I take on. Experimentation – playing, even – is a good way of exercising those muscles and working with unexpected results.
But I also have an interest in sketching with stuff that’s around us. It’s low-waste, it’s approachable and in challenging times for many, it’s cheap. So every experiment adds to my knowledge for workshops.
