What do you get up to at the beach? Perhaps you jump the waves, bury your grown ups in the sand, spin cartwheels. Perhaps too, you make sandcastles, with moats, and tunnels and flags. Perhaps you collect shells, write your name in the sand.
With everything you make, you notice the nature around you more closely. The different patterns on each shell; the way big stones suddenly appear in the sand; the different kinds of seaweed. Do you ever wonder how it all fits together?
with families …
Facilitated or drop in sessions are flexible and responsive to the space, adapting to the needs and dynamics of your community.
For this workshop, I bring an extensive collection of shells, seaweed, driftwood and pebbles and invite you to arrange them into pictures and patterns, thinking about what their role is in the ecosystem as you go. What IS a shell, after all?
And, after we’ve explored on our own, we’ll create a bigger, collaborative piece, and discover the magic that can happen when we all work together.
with schools …
After beginning individually, we collaborate to create something bigger than we could ever achieve alone.
Evolving from Nature Doodles, Beach Doodles look specifically at the sea. Tapping into our love for seaside spaces, we can easily forget the importance of the oceans in our global ecosystems. We gather shells without thinking about what they house or how their inhabitants lived. And we often avoid the sliminess of seaweed, little thinking that it’s one of the greatest sources of oxygen on Earth.
in the community …
Crossing social boundaries and coming together to celebrate shared joy in our coastal spaces.
Through spending time with the Beach Doodles collections, we begin to ask our own questions about the provenance of these objects – to discuss them and begin to assemble some answers. And undoubtedly, we leave with more questions than we began. Because we’ve ignited a curiosity that perhaps, until now, lay dormant …
at events and festivals …
Taking the transience of the art form to celebrate a moment in time, be it a wedding, a launch or … ?
Beach Doodles workshops are extremely versatile – it’s intrinsic to the art form to respond to the space, the group and the occasion.
Indoor, facilitated workshops usually last up to 90 minutes and work with up to 15 children, while drop-in sessions can span a longer period of time and accommodate greater numbers, depending on the space. Outdoor workshops depend much more on the group, the time of year and the location.
If you have an idea or a question, please contact me – I look forward to exploring the possibilities together!
The Nature Doodles Project 