Art Club on the dunes - A Friends of the Towans Art Club workshop called an 'Introduction to Botanical Art for Families'. Funded by Dynamic Dunescapes it used microscope drawing in its session. Photograph Sophie Oudeboon.
Art Club with Friends of the Towans
A new Art Club centred on drawing, painting and making outside whilst in the dunes on the north coast of Cornwall. The club's start-up has been funded by the Dynamic Dunescapes project and is part of Friends of the Towans.
Friends of the Towans Art Club session 'Introduction to Botanical Illustration for Families'. Funded by Dynamic Dunescapes. Drawing dinosaur plant exercise, created by Andy Nelson and Dominica Williamson. Photograph: Sophie Oudeboon.
I run this club with artist Hilary Jean Gibson. Much to our delight, we received a second year of funding through Dynamic Dunescapes Heritage Lottery funding to run and develop it with Friends of the Towans and a core group of Art Club members that are already regularly drawing and painting with Hilary. We are now broadening the reach of the club and applying to new funders so we can gain enough funding to help those that feel they ‘Can’t Draw for Toffee’ and for those that don’t have easy access to a car.
Friends of the Towans Art Club session 'Introduction to Botanical Illustration for Families'. Funded by Dynamic Dunescapes. Drawing dinosaur plant exercise, created by Andy Nelson and Dominica Williamson. Photograph: Dominica Williamson
My role is to develop workshops which target science and art in a fun and relaxed way, with the aim of enabling everyone to become inspired by the mystery of the dunes. To date I have concentrated on delivering botanical illustration sessions to families.
Keela really enjoyed the art and found the use of the hand lens fascinating when looking at the structures of the petals and the plant itself.
Thank you Dom and Andy for all your shared knowledge and skills.
My daughter discovered that she loves painting. It’s great to see her enjoying nature so much. Thanks.
Art Club on the dunes - A Friends of the Towans Art Club workshop called an 'Introduction to Botanical Art for Families'. Funded by Dynamic Dunescapes. Andy Nelson teaching people how to use hand microscopes. Photograph Sophie Oudeboon.
In 2022, our focus shifted from the newest dunes to exploring various plant species found within the dune environment and the oldest sand dune sections. We began with Horsetail (Equisetum arvense), an ancient plant once consumed by dinosaurs, located in dune scrapes. Subsequently, we examined the following plant species further inland:
- Many-headed woodrush (Luzula multiflora)
- Jointed rush (Juncus articulatus)
- Flea sedge (Carex pulicaris)
- Tormentil (Potentilla erecta) – a red data species
- Yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus minor)
- Compact rush (Juncus conglomeratus)
- Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) – also known as Lammas plant
- Common valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
- Fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica)
- Common Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Friends of the Towans Art Club session 'Introduction to Botanical Illustration for Families'. Funded by Dynamic Dunescapes. Drawing dinosaur plant exercise, created by Andy Nelson and Dominica Williamson. Photograph: Sophie Oudeboon.
Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)Â is the only living member of the family Equisetaceae, and the only member of its class, Equisetopsida, as well. This class used to dominate much of the Paleozoic forests for over 100 million years. The class included species that reached monstrous heights, some reportedly reaching over 30 meters tall. Since this time, however, only the lonely horsetail has survived. It is an ancient species and a bit of a time capsule for the other members of the Equisetopsida class of plants.
Friends of the Towans Art Club session 'Introduction to Botanical Illustration for Families'. Funded by Dynamic Dunescapes. Drawing dinosaur plant exercise, created by Andy Nelson and Dominica Williamson. Photograph: Andy Nelson
We are also holding a Big ‘Dune’ Draw.
Our heartfelt thanks goes out to Andy Nelson and Pip Cook from the Dynamic Dunescapes team for their help and advice, and Martin Rule, Towans Ranger, without which the club would not exist.
You can read about our achievements in 2022 and you can join by studying the dates below. Dates for 2024 will be updated in April and May.
Art Club Dates 2023
I found the combination of the science and art fascinating; Andy Nelson the conservationist talked about the habitat of some of the plants we were to draw and also the way the site is managed: Dominica Williamson our artist, gave us insight into the botanical process and a lot of guidance on how draw and paint the plants; a very enjoyable and inspiring day.