Event Details: Making a Mark: Drawing Like an Insect or Spider!
From 12.30pm to 3.00pm, join artists Hilary Jean Gibson and Dominica Williamson at Gwithian Chapel for our annual Big Dune Draw.
This year we will be exploring the 2026 Big Draw Festival theme, #MakingAMark. Inspired by our experiences on the Towans and this year’s Friends of the Towans Art Club theme, insects, we’ll look closely at the remarkable marks left behind by insects and spiders as they move through the landscape. From tracks and trails in the sand to the patterns they create on leaves and plants as they feed, we’ll discover how these tiny creatures leave their presence written across the dunes.
Together we will create drawings inspired by these traces and journeys. Adults, children and families are all welcome. Hilary and Dominica will introduce the session and offer guidance, inspiration and support throughout the afternoon.
Please bring your own drawing materials, including paper or a sketchbook, soft pencils, coloured pencils or any other favourite tools (a limited supply of stock will also be available to borrow). If it rains or is too windy, we will work indoors inside the beautiful Gwithian Chapel.
Exhibition and Celebration
Gwithian Chapel will also be open from 3.30pm to 5.30pm, hosting an exhibition of artwork created by adults, children and families through Friends of the Towans Art Club. The display will include work made during our en plein air drawing sessions at Mexico Towans, sunset gatherings at St Gothian Sands, and insect explorations at Gwithian Green Nature Reserve.
We will also be showing a short film created by participating families, alongside photographs from the past year.
If you have joined us at previous events, we would love to include your artwork in the exhibition. Please bring drawings or sketchbooks to the Chapel around midday, or get in touch beforehand. All artwork will be returned at the end of the day.
To celebrate both the Big Draw Festival and another wonderful year of Friends of the Towans Art Club, tea, coffee and homemade treats will be served from 3.30pm. Stay for a chat, enjoy the exhibition and help us round off the day in style.
Spread the word, bring a friend, and come and make your mark on the dunes this October.
PS You can make a spider too!
