Experiment based on the art of Tim Knowles

I recently read a brief article on the artist Tim Knowles who in 2005 created a series of "Tree Drawings" by attaching ink pens to the tips of tree branches and placing an easel within reach. The branches moving in the breezes created interesting lines with a wide range of variety in thickness and direction. During periods of stagnant air the branch and pen were at rest and ink bled in small dots. The images the experiment produced resemble constellation maps. 

Yesterday was quite windy and an appropriate day to conduct my own experiment based on Knowles' concept however, there is one factor that creates a powerful variable which was not as crucial in Knowles' experiment--gravity. Approximately 10' above the ground I attached three drawing pens to three different tree branches on the same tree using thread. I let the thread spool and the pens descended until the tips were grazing the surface of a piece of white drawing paper on the ground below. As the wind blew the pens dragged along in a drunken dance. Occassionally, a pen would dash outside of the perimeters of the paper and onto the dirt. I observed for a few minutes and then let nature create uninhibited for an hour. The results were not as profound as I had hoped for. One problem in the experiment was that the pens were all stuck in the dirt when I returned to collect the finished artwork. A larger piece of drawing paper should have been used to give the tree more freedom in its range of mark-making motion. Also, the ink pens I used were old and nearly dried out. The thread seemed to be an appropriate choice. It's extendible qualities allow for adjustments after the branches have been tied.