A large blank canvas of snow white paper lay on the ground...expectant of the dance of creativity to come..Someone was bold enough to make the first marks.. the ribbon was cut..the event had begun...children standing around the paper felt able to launch in free to experiment with the drawing contraptions lying around.Their faces lit up with delight in seeing how unlikely they were as things to draw with...a shower hose ? Some plastic goggles ? A chandelier ??? As colours and marks danced all over the paper wonderful textures and patterns emerged. As each large sheet was finished we hung them on the high fencing of the basketball court and also wrapped some play equipment with some drawings. This changed the shape of the park itself.
People of all ages and different races gathered to watch and many joined in. They welcomed a cup of hot coffee in the autumn sunshine. Last nights rain had intensified the rich colours of the trees. Swinging envelopes begun to appear on some of them containing treasures of leaves and photos. A local couple began to make puppets with some children. They were a lovely addition to the playful atmosphere. A spontaneous handbag also appeared made of paper and tape. People lingered at the event enjoying making or watching others.
At the end of the day we took some of the large sheets of drawings down to the church and displayed them on various surfaces, responding quite quickly to the space. The dense lyrical patterns of marks contrasted well with the simple strong shapes of the architecture. Two wrapped pillars just looked great.
What a wonderful day..people gathering to create and make purely for the fun of it and doing it collectively...
