Leaf Art

I’ve always loved being out in nature and feeling the therapeutic benefits to mind and body. During the pandemic, I started sitting under a sycamore tree, feeling the gentle yet powerful effects of being immersed in the natural world, calming and focussing me. I started to develop an active mindful practice of creating art from natural materials.

I took delight in creating figures out of sycamore spinning jennies, thistle flowers, wild cherries, rose petals, leaves and all the amazing available natural art materials at my fingertips. With a gradually changing palette each week, the colours and shapes of the images I created matched the seasons and the weather. I enjoy learning all the names of the plants I used, their characters and possibilities.

The images I make often describe what is in my mind at the time, or relate to a friend or seasonal change, eg I made a cyclist for my cycling friend’s birthday, a birthday cake on my birthday, a sunset for the solstice. Other times, I see a feather and think ‘that looks like a bird’, and I’m off creating another world… Sometimes I like to create geometric patterns: I let the materials suggest what they would like to become.

The images are all ephemeral, lasting a few minutes or hours, being blown away by the wind or nudged by a curious dog, they gradually return to the land. I take a photo and accept the transient nature of the original image. To be honest, it is quite liberating not to have to do anything with it except take a photo and see what happens! On another level it makes me think of the transient nature of experiences and about enjoying the moment.

I have since discovered a new world of Land Art, with many artists creating ephemeral or more permanent images out of natural materials. I make these images for my own pleasure and also knowing that someone else will find them, a surprise and delight I hope! You can see my images at joveal_art on instagram. I also run workshops for people to forage and create their own images and mandalas, at festivals, community events and woodland gatherings. This is a great activity to do, to connect with nature in a mindful way. Get in touch to find out more.

Leaf and Petal Pounding

This is a really fun activity where you print a leaf or petal onto fabric, by ‘pounding’ them with a hammer! This releases the colour pigments into the material, creating a beautiful impression of the leaf or petal.

Workshops:

I run creative activity workshops where people can learn to forage for natural materials and create their own images and mandalas, both individually or as a group. This is a great activity to do, to connect with nature in a mindful way. Also available are leaf and petal pounding workshops.

Shadow Puppetry

Simply taking a piece of black card, some coloured acetate and a stick, and you can make an image that takes you into another magical world! Shadow puppets are brilliant for people of all ages, and can be used as sun shadow puppets in the day and by night using a torch to illuminate them. The colours are vibrant, and the images are reminiscent of stained glass windows.

You can use them to make your own little shadow puppet world on a screen, or stick them onto a window to be lit by the daylight and create some magic in a room. At night, it is exciting to set up a screen outdoors and to create a magical atmosphere with the shadow puppets performing their antics under the stars.

Workshops:

I often work in collaboration with artist Patrick Amber (www.patrickamber.co.uk); we have run shadow puppet workshops at theatres, festivals and for local community events, both indoors using a darkened space and outdoors at night or using the sun in the day.

Shadow puppet workshops are accessible for everyone to take part in, no previous knowledge needed. We provide everything you need and show you how to go about making amazing images.

Get in touch to find out more.

Each Winter, I get immense satisfaction from foraging for greenery and creating beautiful festive wreaths and decorations for friends and family. It is very relaxing and enjoyable to forage for different plants as art materials, create the base out of willow withies, then to weave in ivy and other winter greenery, creating a unique design. It is a joy to spend time looking and handling each plant: their colours, textures and other qualities.

I run Autumn and Winter workshops to make festive wreaths, using all natural materials (plus a bit of ribbon!). Get in touch to find out more.