Unloc k Imagina i n g tion
con ver sat ions w it h r a in SE AL N O P S RN E U R O J
Think of this rain book as an invitation to be like weather: unique, changing, unpredictable, powerful, gentle, confident, sensitive and active! As the artist of these pages draw your way from quiet s u n s h o w e r s to w il d s t o r m s , and notice all the feelings in between.
The First Nations people of South Western Australia have six seasons. We acknowledge the Wadjuk people of the Noongar nation and the importance of indigenous knowledges in the climate futures we all share. The Noongar season Maruku is represented by the colour dark blue as it symbolises rain and cold weather.
KAYA! Welcome to the Art Gallery of Western Australia where we
See Things Differently. We collect artworks that tell stories, teach us about history, and remind us to pay attention to ourselves, our surroundings and each other. In an art gallery the world of weather lives as painted landscapes, drawn storms and portals to unlikely puddles. We control the temperature to keep the artworks cool and the concrete ceiling keeps us dry. Weather is both inside and outside the Gallery; inside and outside our bodies.
This journal is yours to sketch and scribble all your weathers: thoughts, ideas and feelings.
Act • Belong • Commit
The 6 Noongar seasons are Birak, Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba and Kambarang
Creativity and the arts can calm our storms, or flood us with feelings. This Response Journal was made by AGWA Learning in partnership with ECU School of Education, and is proudly funded by Healthway to communicate the Act-Belong-Commit message - that creative expression, belonging and purpose contribute to our sense of well-being and feeling connected to our world and to each other.
B
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A
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Breathe fast like a storm, and then slow like a gentle breeze. Air is inside and outside your body. Imagine a conversation between your breathing and the air moving. For each inhale, draw a line… For each exhale, draw another.
What if everything begins with breathing?
Drawing Breath
Do this over and over again until the page is filled with your breathing.
Rain accumulates.
Draw your breath onto this page by filling it with lines.
Rain repeats. It gathers into puddle, pool, pond, lake, rivulet, river, dam, ocean, sea, waterfall.
Sit or stand quietly. Close your eyes for a moment and notice as many sensations as you can. The temperature of the air on your face. The weather in your tummy. Listen to all the sounds around you.
Noticin
g
What if we allow more time to notice before responding?
“Always restless, water’s falling, dripping, dripping, gushing, pouring. Always shifting shape and size, from floods to clouds that fill the skies, to tears that trickle from our eyes” James Carter, Once Upon A Raindrop, The Story Of Water.
With your eyes closed draw abstract lines, shapes and patterns to express all the sensations and sounds you notice.
What if an artwork becomes more interesting the longer you look at it? Move through the Art Gallery thinking about weather. You might find a painting of a forest lit by sunlight, or a drawing of stormy seas. You could come across repeated lines that remind you of snowflakes, or a canvas covered in shades of pink like swirling spring blossoms.
What is beyond curiosity?
1. Stand in front of an artwork 2. List everything you notice 3. Close your eyes for a while 4. Open your eyes and write three things you didn't notice about the artwork before.
"What does rain taste like? This is a philosophical question, there is no right or wrong answer!" Nadia, age 9
What if we trust not knowing how things will turn out? Works of art are made with different materials. Look for paint that has been dried by the air, clay glazed by fire, ochres mixed with water and other material transformations.
Tear off a small part of this page and scrunch it next to your ear to make it sound like a tiny rainstorm and then use it to make a miniature paper sculpture.
Find three different kinds of artworks and write down the title OR make up a new one‌
1. Sculpture Title:
2. Drawing Title:
4. Painting Title:
Make this cloud rain.
1. With a partner take turns using two pencils, one in each hand, to make the sound of rain on this page. 2. Listen to the sound of your mark making. 3. Press harder and softer to change the volume. 4. Tap your fingers on your partner’s book to add to the soundscape.
Listening )
What if listening is an artwork in itself?
What if raining is writing? Is each drop a single letter, a single word, or a billion stories at once? How many stories make up the sky?
1. Write as fast as rain without stopping or planning. 2. Write. Write. Write. Write. Write. Write. 3. Write some more. 4. Choose 7 of your words and write them sideways on your page to make a micro poem.
Sh ake
your
book
to
make
it
ra
i n.
Are your words like soft rain or hail in your head?
What if we see things differently?
g n i d n o p s eR
Responding
Your perspective contributes to conversations about art and opens new ways of seeing that your friends or teachers may never have considered. Trust yourself.
“Rain can walk on the ground and swim in the river” Freeda, age 3
“ Henry collecte d rain in stamps. stead of He plan ted his f a tree p ing ushed u p throug ers and Pollitt a h his sk nd Blue, in” BIG Kids Magazin e.
W
e
s a l l s e e wo r k
Write or draw what you notice, feel and wonder UPSIDE DOWN
of
a rt f r o m
di f
fe
re per nt
spe
c t i ve s .
Lie down on the ground and look up. How does your perspective change?
What if artworks and weather share the same elements?
Elements
Works of art are made up of elements and principles: Line, shape, colour, texture, movement, balance, rhythm, harmony, repetition and scale. How is the movement of a thunderstorm different to a sun shower? What is the texture of rain and how does it change?
ADE RE M A U YO TER‌ % WA 0 7 F O EARS UR T O Y D R AW
Who decided rain was blue? Is rain a chameleon changing colour with every landscape?
1. Collect Colour by noticing works of art that include any shade of B L U E . 2. Find works that use geometric lines OR organic lines. 3. Look for a painting that feels like it’s moving. 4. Find a texture that reminds you of clouds
Conversations with Rain is a partnership between the Art Gallery of Western Australia and ECU School of Education, supported by our Art Access Partner, Healthway, Act-Belong-Commit. This journal is made collaboratively by Art Gallery of Western Australia Artist Educator, Lilly Blue and ECU School of Education, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr Jo Pollitt, harnessing learning methodologies that prioritise creativity, participation and engagement. Conversations with Rain is part of the Climate Action Network, a research project funded by SSHRC exploring children’s creative relations with weather as a way of potentially transforming our climate futures. Conversations with Rain research team: Artist Educator Lilly Blue (AGWA), Dr Jo Pollitt and Professor Mindy Blaise (ECU). Healthway proudly partner with AGWA to communicate the Act-Belong-Commit message. An important reminder that being Active, creating a sense of Belonging, and having a Committed purpose in life contributes to individual happiness, nurtures mental health and wellbeing, and strengthens our connections to ourselves and others. AGWA
artgallery.wa.gov.au #artgallerywa @ArtGalleryWA
#conversationswithrain #unlockingimagination #climateactionchildhood #actbelongcommit
CONTACT
Artist Educator: Lilly Blue educate@artgallery.wa.gov.au
e x p l o r e t n c e r e e t a im te a r r e p o b x e a l l o c e t a p partici
Take your book of rain outside and read it to the sky.
Check out our Unlocking Imagination: Conversations with Rain video online at artgallery.wa.gov.au/learn This response journal features artworks from the Library of Rain made by multi-generational AGWA audiences.
Imagination Room Partner
Art Access Partner
Project Partner
Education
School of
Shaky rain
Blue rain Metallic rain Flippy rain Windy rain Scratchy rain Crunchy rain Punchy rain Pretty rain Hidden rain Safe rain Criminal rain Tree rain Fireworks rain First rain Circle rain Plus rain Puddle rain Surprise rain
Dragon head rain
Furious rain
Light rain Horror rain Dark  rain Wavy rain Dragon head rain Shaky rain Blue rain Metallic rain Flippy rain Windy rain Scratchy rain Crunchy rain Punchy rain Pretty rain Hidden rain Safe rain Criminal rain Tree rain Fireworks rain First rain Circle rain Plus rain Puddle rain Surprise rain thoughtful rain fearless rain worried rain bacwards rain difficult rain magic rain story rain see thru rain quick rain exploding rain rock rain baby rain old rain silent rain tender rain together rain undone rain breathing rain Stripy rain Furious rain Light rain Horror rain Dark rain Wavy rain
Stripy rain