Category: Art of Transience

Dates:   June 21^st to 28^th

Affirmation:   I attune with the cycles of the earth.

Nature Craft:  Nature Mandala

This art installation takes a little more time so plan a longer walk.  On your way, collect several items in even number groups.  So pick up 12 berries or 8 twigs or 4 flowers … whatever you see and feel drawn to.  Now find a flat clear place where you can make your nature art.  Work in circles as a mandala placing the items in balanced groupings.  Build and build until you are happy with it.  I would relish seeing some of these beauties.  Snap a pic and share.

Dates:   June 14^th to 21^st

Affirmation:   I touch Nature with reverence and awe.

Nature Craft:  Grass Braiding

By this week the grasses should really be growing!  Find a place where they have been allowed to get really tall and even to the point of creating seeds.  Now, select three longer stems of about the same length and begin to braid them.  You may have done this with ribbons or strings, but now we do this with grasses.  Create three braids, and then braid these three into a larger braid.  You may have run out of length.  That’s okay, just find a way to attach your three braids.  Perhaps tying at the top with another piece.  Finally, hang your grass ornament in a place were people will see it.  Smile and enjoy your creation.

Dates:   June 7^th to 14^th

Affirmation:   My creations support and work with nature.

Nature Craft:  Evergreen Cone Hanging

Keep your eyes open for evergreen cones while out this week.  You are going to make a beautiful natural hanging from a branch of a tree.  Evergreens create cones with a lovely shape that allows them to be easily hung by wrapping a thread around the top set of blades.  But instead of leaving thread in the wild, we are going to try to wrap long grasses.  Tie off the grass blades at the top of the cone and then wrap the remainder about the branch.  Collect several cones and arrange them lovingly along the branch.  Step back and take a look.  Beautiful.

Dates:   May 31^st to June 7^th

Affirmation:   I open my heart to sharing beauty.

Nature Craft:  Heart of Leaves

Summer is getting really close now – there may still be some old leaves about but new ones have arrived.  On your walk this week, collect leaves.  Please try not to hurt the trees in the process and always say thank you when you borrow something.  Find your canvas – a spot along the path where your art will be seen.  Now make a heart from the leaves you have collected.  Big or small, an outline or filled in … whatever you wish.  Make a memory and then let it go.

Dates:   May 24^th to 31^st

Affirmation:   I leave my mark and do no harm. 

Nature Craft:  Leaf Printing

This week is a bit different.  Instead of a natural place, find a spot where there will be a sidewalk … and mud puddles … and leaves.   Collect some leaves of different shapes and sizes.   Now clear the sidewalk area of stones or garbage – this is your canvas.  Dip your leaves into your mud and water then press them onto the sidewalk so they leave a print.  Print your leaves in any manner that pleases you.  You know they will dry up; you know they won’t last.  But enjoy your prints in this moment.  Snap a pic.  Smile.

Dates:   May 17^th to 24^th

Affirmation:   I see Nature’s beauty in all things. 

Nature Craft:  Symbols in the Soil

How did it feel to create something and then let it go?  This week is just as liberating.  And it all starts with a walk outside.  As you walk in your natural place this week, look about until you find a favourite stick.  Long, short, thick, thin – it doesn’t matter.   At the end of your walk, find a place where there is a patch of exposed earth, rather flat.  Sometimes this will be along a path where others walk – wonderful!  Now, close your eyes and breath deeply.  Repeat the affirmation a few times.  Finally, envision a symbol of Nature’s beauty.  This can be anything – geometric or organic – recognizable or not.   Then take your stick and draw it on the soil quite deeply.  Step back and enjoy your creation.  Now, let it go.