Spring & Growth
6 May 2020
This week, we’re thinking about Spring and Growth. While the season of Spring brings about long-awaited fresh greenery to our surroundings, spring can also suggest coiled-up, burgeoning energy which is waiting to pounce. We can think about whether we want to make Shieldfield greener, and we can also consider what sort of coiled energy Shieldfield already has in it. Shieldfield has energy in people, buildings, organisations and ideas. How could we build upon these things together? How could we direct our energy in a concentrated and united way? Although we can’t be together at the minute, we can use this time to consider both how we would like future seasons of Spring to be in Shieldfield, or our own geographic communities, and how we can use our energy together in future to grow and learn together.
Definitions
Spring
- the season of the year following winter and characterized by the budding of trees, growth of plants, the onset of warmer weather, etc.
- the first stage and freshest period
- to rise, leap, move, or act suddenly and swiftly, as by a sudden dart or thrust forward or outward, or being suddenly released from a coiled or constrained position: to spring into the air; a tiger about to spring.
- to be released from a constrained position, as by resilient or elastic force or from the action of a spring
Growing
- becoming greater in quantity, size, extent, or intensity: growing discontent among industrial workers.
- having or showing life.
Drawing ideas and suggestions to get started
Yourself
- Draw or describe your favourite thing about spring
Your home
- Draw what is growing in your garden or at your windowsill
- Draw your ultimate fantasy window box filled full of blooms and vegetables
- If you could invent a vegetable, what would it be? How would it taste? How would you cook it?
Shieldfield and your community
- Think about what is currently growing in Shieldfield
- Wheat at SAW (See Shieldfield Wheatfield)
- Rosemary and lavender at SAW
- In the future, what would be growing in Shieldfield?
- Look at Mikey Tomkin’s imaginative map of Shieldfield for inspiration
- What wildlife would this attract to Shieldfield?
- Design your dream allotment.
- What would you grow? What would an abundant allotment look like?
- Draw or describe how you would make a specific area of Shieldfield more green
The wider world and community
- Draw your favourite landmark surrounded by new growth, plants and trees. Do you think the world would be better if it was more green?
Submitting your drawing
Email a photograph of your drawing and your name to gemma@saw-newcastle.org, putting “Draws Together” in the subject heading, or keep hold of it until after the lockdown period and we will arrange collection. The drawings will be displayed on SAW’s website (with your first name and initial) in our Shieldfield Draws Together online gallery in order to encourage more art making.
