Cultivating Creativity Calendar

Argentinian artist, Eileen Agar, used found objects and collage in her artworks. Part of the Surrealist art movement, she is celebrated for bringing organic, natural objects into her work.

Canadian Inuk artist, Kenojuak Ashevak, made drawings, prints and carvings of animals. Her works of art used symbols of her culture and its folklore. Her most famous image was of The Enchanted Owl and Ashevak believed the snowy owl, or “ukpik” in Inuit, was her spirit guide.

British artist and potter, Grayson Perry, uses clay in a lot of his work. Alan Measles is his teddy bear from childhood, given to Perry when he was sick with measles in hospital. Alan Measles now features as a motif across Perry’s art. He used clay, natural materials and found objects to make his artwork, Protective Spirit Alan, which tells us that Alan Measles has been Perry’s spiritual companion throughout his life.

The seeds I sowed –
For week unseen –
Have pushed up pygmy
Shoots of green;
So frail you’d think
The tiniest stone
Would never let
A glimpse be shown.
But no; a pebble
Near them lies,
At least a cherry-stone
In size,
Which that mere sprout
Has heaved away,
To bask in sunshine,
See the Day.

By Walter de la Mare

Move to summer…