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Is that mud on my wall?

28/7/2014

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BildCollecting the mud
Anyone else ever have think: "How am I going to entertain my kids for six weeks," at the beginning of the summer holidays?

Trust me. You're not alone. 

Last night my sister and I lay in a double bed at my parents' house (in a way we hadn't done since sharing a bedroom in primary school), giggling, talking about all sorts from whether we prefer Ryan G to George C to who does more domestic chores in our respective relationships. Our kids (four between us) were asleep in the room next door, when suddenly the rain came down so hard outside, landing on the slanted window above our heads, it felt like the entire house might just float away. The animals marched on two by two, I thought, and then: "What on Noah's Ark earth are we going to do with the kids tomorrow?"

The next day came along with slightly brighter weather, as well as serious puddles and mud tracks in my parents garden. The kids had slept so badly between them we didn't know weather to laugh or cry about it. I think we did a bit of both. Rather than just letting the kids splash around in the puddles, we felt like bringing the mud into it too. If you can't beat the sodding weather, join it.

This is not sludge I thought, remembering a picture of a mud-painted classroom in India I'd seen recently, it's paint. Let's use the gunk. Grab a bucket kids. Grab a spade. Find the wettest, stickiest, dirtiest mud and plop it right in. Add water. Squelch it around with your hands. Done. Who needs Windsor and Newton paint? Their "painting" started gingerly enough. Some delicate hand prints, a few swishes of the palm, but it was clear soon enough that they had more of a Jackson Pollock approach to making their mark. Within minutes they were hurling the mud at the wall, excited, giddy, feral. It was abstract expressionism - of the backyard variety. The mud went splat, phisssht, pffop. It swooshed out of their hands and onto the makeshift canvas. They weren't painting a thing, they were feeling it. 

What you need:
  • A receptacle to mix and carry mud in
  • Water
  • A wall

Top tip: It's really worth incorporating the "clean up" mission into the event. Who doesn't love hurling buckets of water at a non-moving object? Bobby also turned into a chim chimney sweeper, singing chim chim cheree, as he slid the broom up and down.
Top quote: "Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is." Jackson Pollock

For more inspiration, take a look at some mud and cave paintings, as well Jackson Pollock at work (see pics below).

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From left: Annie, Minu and Bobby filling buckets with sludge
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Assessing the canvas
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Cousins at work
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Bobby goes at it Pollock style
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The finished piece. The phones are ringing off the hook. White Cube, Hauser and Wirth, they all want a piece of the action…
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Or is it more Ana Mendieta, upon reflection?
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Like any good land art, this installation was temporary
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Chim chimney chim chim cheree
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Cave paintings at Lascaux
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The mud paintings on school wall in India
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Jackson Pollock at work
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If Richard Long can, so can we

22/7/2014

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Got no paint, paper or pens to hand but desperate to entertain the kids creatively? Look no further than your back garden or nearest park.

Inspired by Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy's beautiful land art, we set off recently while on holiday in Italy, to hunt for natural elements to create an art work with. As let's face it, there comes a time when even the kids have had enough of the pool and need a new distraction. On our stroll Bobby and Minu collected olives, pine needles, bark, other dried plants and a few rocks. Bobby knew immediately what he wanted to do and set to work. 

You don't have to be in Italy to create land art. You can do it wherever you are, with whatever you have around you. Just use what you can find when you next go for a walk. It depends a bit on the season and on your location what you can get, but there's always something... Some suggestions of what you could use:

  • Leaves in the autumn
  • Pine cones
  • Acorns
  • Rocks, pebbles
  • Shells
  • Sand
  • Sticks
  • Flowers
  • Snow
  • Ice
  • Water

Below some pics of the kids gathering material, and then some examples of how the big boys do it.

Top tip: Everything that is of a natural origin can be used. No matter how dry, small, wet or muddy.
Top quote: "A work of art can be a journey." Richard Long
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Minu gathering olives
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Bobby's finished masterpiece.

And here's how Andy Goldsworthy and Richard Long do it...

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Green to yellow leaves, Andy Goldsworthy
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Leaves in a circle, Andy Goldsworthy
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Walking and Marking, Richard Long
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A circle in the Andes, Richard Long
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    Author

    Anne-Celine Jaeger is a journalist, author and mother of three based in London. This blog is about about tapping into the adventurous, innocent, magical spirit in every child, not caring about dirty hands, mucky feet, tangled hair or muddy knees. It's about running wild in nature. It's about smelling, feeling, touching, hearing and tasting the great outdoors. It's about being free.

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