Environmental art activities

Some weeks are so full and so busy and yet at the end of them you still have very little to show for it!

This week was kind of one of those as we are preparing to host our Sister City friends from Tatebayashi in Japan - about 20 delegates are coming tot the Sunshine Coast and on Tuesday they will visit us at home of for a light lunch - you can imagine we have been cleaning and tidying!

In conjunction with their visit we are also showing some of Shimokawa san's work at the Arts and Ecology Centre at Maroochy Botanical Bushland Gardens until 1pm on Saturday 26 October.

Back in 2013 we visited Shimokawa- san's house for a very special art display, and discussion. For the past decade or so he has wandered the banks of the two rivers near where he lives and collected the waste and rubbish that people leave. He then makes art from it and some of it is challenging; some of it is beautiful.

We spent most of Friday hanging his exhibition - and we were so tired and tuckered out I didn't take a single photo! Says a lot. But here are some images from our visit in 2013.

He also collects natural things along the waterways as well.

As well, we are running a full day workshop with the River School students here in Maleny on Monday.  The whole school is taking part, so Barry, Christine and I will be busy!

In preparation the children collected lots of plastic and rubbish as they walked along the creeks and waterways here.  Barry has cut it all up and the plastic parts will be suspended in resin - in cups (drinking water) and plastic bags.  Check out his blog post about it here.

Christine will be doing gelli-plate printing with the students and I will be doing 'weathergrams' on cut up paper bags to hang in a peace tree. Messages of care for the animal life the lives in our waterways will be drawn and written.

So lots of the week has also involved printing brochures (partially successful) and preparing 150 weathergrams...

We also fixed up the peace tree so we can transport it - ah the chaos of our shed!

I cut lots and lots of string...

Which made me happy.

I packed textas, pencils, calligraphy markers...

And prepared a few demonstration weather grams - cutting the paper basin half, folding the tops over twice, punching holes and threading - 150 times (except for the threading that was only 10 times).

I also managed two transfer the words onto my sheer fabric for the Melbourne commission - there are four panels and it took nearly an hour to transfer each panel. My arm was aching!

Hopefully the week is wonderful and everything works out well.