Lost then Found

Play with found materials and experiment with pattern

A woman's hands and the pencil-drawn artwork she is creating.

Materials needed:

  • One sheet of good quality paper
  • A selection of coloured pencils
  • A selection of 3–5 small found objects (ie. a twig, leaf, stone, shell, button, or bottlecap)

Start by looking at the works of art listed below. We have suggested some questions that will help
facilitate a discussion, then follow the instructional video to create your own work of art.

About the process

Discussion

Rosalie Gascoigne, Tiepolo parrots, 1976, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Purchased 1976. © Rosalie Gascoigne/Copyright Agency.

Rosalie Gascoigne
1917-1999, Auckland New Zealand/Aotearoa and Canberra, ACT, Ngunnawal and Ngambri land.
Tiepolo Parrots
1976

About

Rosalie Gascoigne is known for her use of worn and weathered materials that she assembled into dynamic sculptures that hold a sense of life within them.

The work, Tiepolo Parrots was named after the 18th century European painter, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo after she recognised similarities in the colour palette between her work and Tiepolo’s soaring frescoes.

(Reference)

Discussion

  • Take it in turns to list the elements you recognise in this sculpture. Use the question, ‘What is this made out of?’.
  • How would you describe the colour palette of this work?
Discover more by Rosalie Gascoigne

Frank Hinder, Yellow abstract (Painting no.1), 1948. Tempera and pencil on canvas mounted on composition board, 55.6 h cm, 76.1 w cm. National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Joseph Brown Fund 1983. © Frank Hinder.

Frank Hinder
1906-1992, Sydney, Gadigal land
Yellow abstract (Painting no.1)
1948

About

Frank Hinder was an Australian modernist painter who had a keen interest in philosophy. He viewed his art as an exercise in making sense of the world.

Discussion

  • Do you like this painting? Describe why or why not?
  • How has Frank Hinder achieved a sense of elements overlapping?
Discover more by Frank Hinder

Artmaking Activity

The video can be watched before you begin artmaking, or it can be watched while you make with participants following along. We encourage you to pause or rewind as required.

Activity steps:

  1. Collect five small objects from around the house and garden. A button, a leaf, or a shell for example.
  2. Arrange you objects onto a sheet of paper and trace around them. Create a pattern.
  3. Colour in the pattern that emerges.

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