- Amanda Farrar
Using Green Spaces
Rosie from the RHS who works at the Bridgewater Gardens in Worsley, Greater Manchester came to visit us at TLC Art Project. She ran a workshop about utilising the green spaces we have in Manchester and how important and essential they are to us.
We started by stating our favourite flowers, plants or trees, we individually picked our favourite two. Amongst the answers were roses, sunflowers, forget-me-nots, monkey puzzle tree, water lilies, strawberry plants and straw flowers. Here are a few examples of our favourite flowers:
Then we were each given 3 photographs with different problems, and we had to draw the solution we thought would fix the problem and stop them from occurring in the future. One was taken from the hottest day of the year, the person in the photo is crouching down, trying to avoid the sun, pouring water over their head for coolness. Our responses included, large trees providing shelter and shade, bushes and shrubs surrounding the areas and grass and flowers instead of pavement.
Two of the photographs taken were of streets being flooded and our responses included large trees surrounding the roads to soak up the water, as the roots absorb the water the roads will become dry. We also drew plants everywhere, from growing straight in the ground to being planted in flower beds as plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen from their leaves, which us as humans need to breathe.
Here are some of our responses for photo 2
Here are some of our responses for photo 3
We were then given a chalk board and split our board into four equal parts. We had to think about our favourite green space, among the answers were The Japanese Gardens at Tatton Park and Birchfields Park.
For my favourite green space, I chose the Japanese Gardens in Tatton Park and in the first square we drew what we could smell while we were there. I drew different flowers, representing the different scents and herbs, such as floral, citrus and fresh mint. The second square was what you could hear in your favourite place, I drew the birds tweeting, the water fountain running, the leaves rustling and the footsteps of people walking. The third square was what you could feel, I drew the sun as I could feel the heat on my face, grass as I could feel the touch of the grass under my feet, the flowers and trees surrounding us. The fourth square was to draw a picture of you in your favourite green space and the feelings you were feeling. My picture depicts me in The Japanese Gardens at Tatton Park with the large trees, beautiful flowers and plants surrounding us, the sun shining in the sky and the water fountain flowing, with the positive feelings of being happy, peaceful and experiencing enjoyment in my favourite green space.
Here are some examples of our favourite green spaces
The last activity was to draw what we wanted our favourite green space to look like and how it would benefit the environment. For my picture, I used oil pastels to draw large trees to soak up all the rainwater, lots of greenery, such as plants, rose bushes and shrubs to release the oxygen we need to survive and to create a relaxing and peaceful environment. I also drew bright and colourful flowers, a pond with ducks, the birds in the sky and the sun shining whilst sitting on a bench to illustrate the perfect place to feel happy and relaxed.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the RHS Workshop, thinking about how important and essential green spaces are to the environment, especially in changing climates, whether it’s to shade us from the sun's heat or to soak up the water when it floods, illustrating that nature can thrive in varying weather conditions and is resilient enough to adjust to the current changing climate.