A Tactile Walk
Enjoy our simple step by step Create guides devised by professional artists and foragers for Friends Around the Table. Absolutely no experience is necessary, these activities are accessible for most people and can be undertaken in your own time.
Each guide welcomes you to explore food and nature in new and exciting ways to bring some relaxing and creative activity to your day. Once you have had a go, why not share the skills you have learned with a neighbor, friend or family member!
Learn a simple printing technique to record textures and objects found on a village walk.
As well as the step-by-step instructions below, and the Activity Guide that you can download, there is also a short video, showing you how to enjoy a Tactile Walk.
Jacquie, an artist who really enjoys looking closely at things that many people pass by has created this activity.
She’d like to invite you to join her in some ‘deep looking’, using our sense of touch to connect with our surroundings.
In this activity, we’ll be trying out a simple printing technique that encourages us to take a closer look and record interesting textures we find on our local walks and in our gardens.
Next time you take a stroll, around your garden or further afield, look out for interesting textures and shapes.
Seed heads, grasses, bark, shells and feathers all work well.
A collection of blutack, seed heads and feathers
Three ink pads, Blutack and plain paper
A large piece of Blutack on a yellow ink pad
A hand holding a piece of yellow-inked Blutack over a white sheet of paper, having printed a yellow shape onto the paper
A seed head stuck to a piece of Blutack
The Blutack with seed head on a black ink pad
A hand holds an inked up Blutack with seed head and in front is the print made using it
Five seed head prints in black and yellow
A range of different printed images using leaves and seed heads
A page of Blutack seed head prints
Layered shades of printing ink
A Tactile Walk
Activity
Take 2 pieces of Blu tack, roll them into balls then flatten them slightly.
We’re going to use these to make a 2 colour print.
Place a magazine on your work surface under your piece of paper; this helps produce a clearer print.
Press one of the Blu tack stamps into your lightest colour ink pad.
Now press your inked stamp onto your paper.
Press over the surface with your fingers to get an even pressure right to the edges.
Then remove your stamp.
Think about how you can experiment, for example
- different textures and objects
- layering colours
- layouts
- different varieties of paper
- printing over other patterns and drawings.
What will you do with your prints? They are beautiful tiny artworks in their own right so you might want to frame them.
Or you could make them into a folded book, recording your walks or time spent in the garden.
You will need
ink stamp pads
Blu tack, non air drying clay or plasticine
different types of paper to experiment with
Download activity guide
Download the PDF version of this activity.
If you’ve enjoyed this DIY activity and would like to make a donation to Suffolk Artlink please visit our CAF Donate page here https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/9780#!/DonationDetails. Every penny will help.
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