Artist Prompt: Tracing Seasonal Change

At Dia, our education department works closely with artists. These artist-designed prompts encourage people of all ages to connect with their surroundings as they relate to the body and find ways to be creative within the home. 

Tracing Seasonal Change
Designed by Hannah Verrill

Materials
Blank paper and a pen or pencil. If you are able, gather together ten or so pieces of paper and staple them together to make a journal so that you can repeat this practice regularly in the coming weeks. You may also wish to use colored pencils, crayons, or markers to illustrate your observations.

Process
Here we are at the very beginning of spring—a season of deep change and transformation. As we watch the natural world come out of its long winter sleep and begin to flourish and grow, let’s practice close observation to trace the changes we are seeing around us every day.

From your window or during some time spent outside, look at your surroundings. Here are some ideas for how to practice close attention:

* If you are looking out a window:

-       Look toward the sky. What do you see? If there are clouds, what shapes do you notice?
-       Look toward the earth. What do you see?
-       What colors are found outside? If you can see a tree, what colors do you notice today?
-       Do you see movement in the air or is it still?

* If you are outside:

-       How does the air feel on your skin? Is it warm, cool, moist, dry?
-       Look toward the sky. What do you see? If there are clouds, what shapes do you notice?
-       Do you feel movement in the air (wind) or does the air feel still?
-       Touch the earth. What do you feel? Look at the ground that you are touching. What do you see?
-       Turn around in a circle. What colors do you see as your eyes skim the landscape?

Take your piece of paper and write down the date (for example: April 10, 2020).

Describe any and all of your observations with words and drawings.

Repeat this practice daily or weekly, watching closely as our earth comes back to life.

We would like to see your creations and add a selection of them to the blog. Please share images of your work by emailing submissions@diaart.org.

Hannah Verrill is an artist and educator who works with the body as an experiential instrument contending with dynamics of time and space. She uses movement, video, text, and installation to break open these experiences, resulting in performance events. Verrill has an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA from Oberlin College, Ohio. She is currently studying the world of plants at ArborVitae School of Traditional Herbalism in New York City. Based in New York, Verrill is an artist educator at Dia Beacon working with the Arts Education Program.