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10 Clever Artists Who Let Nature Do The Hard Work...

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10 Clever Artists Who Let Nature Do The Hard Work...

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NOWADAYS, THE CONCEPT OF CREATING ART using natural elements found in the environment is getting more and more popular. You see artists creating sculptures and pieces using twigs, branches, leaves, stones and more.

The idea of art that comes from nature, and goes back to nature is a romantic one. Many of these works are temporary, and others are made to last, yet all of them still blow us away.

However, let's take things up a notch. Let's consider the works of artists who have been letting nature do most of the heavy lifting for them.

This showcase isn't about art created using items found in nature. No! This is about art created by nature itself... (with some help from the artist of course)

This artist got a tree enough parts to grow 40 different fruits...

What could be better than a tree? The perfect picture of beauty, created by nature, that provides us with much fruit and shade, and greenery that soothes the eye. How about a tree with the characteristics of 40 different trees?

Artist and professor at Syracuse University, Sam Van Aken has been using a technique called "chip grafting" to create these special trees that each grow 40 different types of stone fruits. The trees look like any other fruit tree, until... they blossom in a variety of different hues of color in spring, and start bearing 40 different fruits that come out in sequence during the summer.

He starts with what he calls his "Tree of 40 Fruits", the main tree, and grafts the stems from 40 other different fruit trees onto this tree. And nature does the rest...

The project is both a work of art, and a preservation of diversity.

This artist lets nature do all the painting for him...

You might think of yourself as a pretty good painter. But if you compare yourself with Mother Nature, who do you think paints better?

Starting in the year 1973, Polish artist Jacek Tylicki decided to find out. He started sending sheets of canvas into the heart of nature. Leaving them to the wind, in the rivers, and even within forests...

He left them there, in the natural environment, for extended periods of time, letting Nature imprint upon them what she would. That project today is often referred to as Natural Art. And it was captured in the mini documentary above...

This artist got bees to help him build a honeycomb vase...

Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny started with the base, a vase-shaped hive made out of wax sheets. And then allowed bees to colonize it and build around it a hexagon comb. He gave the bees a little help of course, embossing the vase with a honeycomb pattern to get them along their way.

It took 40,000 bees a whole week to make the Honeycomb Vase, and thus Libertiny calls the process "slow prototyping". Bees can be pretty amazing artists. And you'll see why in a minute...

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10 Clever Artists Who Let Nature Do The Hard Work...

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NOWADAYS, THE CONCEPT OF CREATING ART using natural elements found in the environment is getting more and more popular. You see artists creating sculptures and pieces using twigs, branches, leaves, stones and more. The idea of art that comes from nature, and goes back to nature is a romantic one.

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Andy Goldsworthy OBE is an English sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban settings. Wikipedia

Washington DC (Hagerstown MD), Virginia

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Andy Goldsworthy OBE (born 26 July 1956) is an English sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art ...

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Walter Mason of Germany considers himself a land artist but what exactly does that mean? A land artist is someone who uses nature as an art form, displaying materials like flowers, soil, snow, rocks in their natural habitat. Walter Mason's vision is particularly stunning. In fact, the photograph shown above has become a viral hit on Tumblr!

Similar to the work of legendary land artist Andy Goldsworthy, Mason's land art captures the beauty of different seasons. He splits his photographs into three different categories: Fall, Winter and Spring/Summer. Through his photos, Mason shows that each season has its own forms of natural beauty. Check out the photos, below, to see each of the three categories as well as an interview we conducted with Mason.

Fall
What inspired you to create “Land Art”?
The first time I ever created anything of this kind was in the middle of January, nine years ago. Snow had fallen in the night for maybe the first time that year, and when I left the house at about eight in the morning to take my boy Marin to his kindergarten, I had this unforgettable feeling leaving the house. It was like stepping onto a fresh new planet.

Because the winter had been a cold one, we were in the habit of taking a shortcut over the ice on the bay behind our house (we lived on a peninsula at the time). As we jumped down from the shore onto the ice, it struck me that the bollards on the abandoned wharf we were walking past would look good with giant snowballs on top, so instead of taking Marin to kindergarten, I rolled a nice big snowball, and lifted it onto the bollard. Needless to say, Marin was late to kindergarten that day. Later on in the evening, I went and borrowed a camera from a friend, and then took pictures the next morning when all the snow on the ground had melted and the only white things left were the snowballs.

It wasn't premeditated at all, it just kind of “happened.”

Of course, I have also been influenced by certain artists. If I had never seen Andy Goldsworthy's work, I probably would never have gone off in this direction. His work, and the underlying philosophy behind what he does is fantastic, but I have never imitated his work, as some people who recently commented on PhotoJojo's or Kuriositas posts seem to think. I never balance stones. Never. Because I don't think it would be possible for me to create something that would not be too similar to Goldsworthy's work.

I used to paint, and the pictures I created were influenced by surrealism. For me, land art is similar to surrealism insofar as that it can change how we look at the world by questioning what we usually take for granted.

Nature plays a huge role in this series. How would you describe its importance in your set?
Like I mentioned above, I was living on a peninsula when I first started working in this medium, and although I didn't think about it at the time, water played a huge part in what I created. I worked off and on for well over a year, without being aware of the influence of water in my work and then, all of a sudden, I realized how omnipresent water had been, and I deliberately exploited the surface of the bay to create the dandelion explosion.

I think that, thanks to civilization's progress, nature can seen quite remote, and I think that most people miss it in some way, even if they don't realize it themselves. I certainly don't want to romanticize nature. Nature can do without us, but we cannot do without it.

What are the biggest differences you noticed regarding the changes in seasons?
Looking at a forest in winter, it's impossible to imagine how green it was in summer, and the whites and blues and grays and browns of winter are forgotten in may. I think seasons can help remind us how instable everything really is. That is something I would like to achieve with my pictures.

What's the one piece of advice that you'd share with aspiring artists/photographers?
“Nobody can teach what is inside a person; it has to be discovered for oneself and a way must be found to express it.” -Eduardo Chillida

What's next for you?
In about a month or two, I plan to launch a Kickstarter project in which backers can commission pieces from me.

Winter
Spring/Summer
Walter Mason's Flickr
via [Kuriositas]

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Walter Mason of Germany considers himself a land artist but what exactly does that mean? A land artist is someone who uses nature as an art form,

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Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue: Home

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Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue: Home

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Welcome to the on-line Preview of the Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue DVD Volume 1: 1976-1986

These pages make accessible a sample of entries from the Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue DVD (Volume One: 1976-1986). The Digital Catalogue DVD can be accessed, by appointment, at the University of Glasgow, Crichton Campus, Dumfries.

The Digital Catalogue documents, visually and textually, the first ten years of Andy Goldsworthy's ephemeral, outdoor practice. It replicates Goldsworthy's Slide Cabinet Index, and includes previously unpublished material from Goldsworthy's Sketchbook Diaries.

The Digital Catalogue project was initiated by the University of Glasgow at the Crichton Campus, Dumfries, and was supported by the University's Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII). It was realised with funding from The Crichton Foundation, Dumfries, and from Private Donors in Dumfries & Galloway.

This is not an official Andy Goldsworthy website, and it is not a commercial resource.
© Andy Goldsworthy. All copyright remains with the Artist.

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Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue: Home

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These pages make accessible a sample of entries from the Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue DVD (Volume One: 1976-1986). The Digital Catalogue DVD can be accessed, by appointment, at the University of Glasgow, Crichton Campus, Dumfries. The Digital Catalogue documents, visually and textually, the first ten years of Andy Goldsworthy's ephemeral, outdoor practice.

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Stick sculpture artist - Patrick Dougherty

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Creating Connections With Nature Via Art | HuffPost

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Creating Connections With Nature Via Art | HuffPost

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Often times in our busy lives, we seem to take some of the important things for granted. It seems to be that more and more each day, the connection between us and our planet earth drifts further and further apart. Not only does the earth provide us with everything we need to survive, like air to breathe and material to build our shelters, but it also provides us with inspiration for art. The complex beauty of nature has inspired many artists whether it is the array of colors in a sunset or the natural geometry of a pinecone. Some take the beauty and transpose it into an entirely new medium such as a canvas, wall or sculpture; however, some artists actually manipulate nature and turn it into art. This is most commonly called "Land Art," yet also referred to as "earth art," "earthworks" or "environmental art."

Art that functions on multiple levels is important to our world. It is something that is pleasing to the eye, but also something that portrays an important message. Although each land artist's work contains its own unique message, the whole field of Land Art possesses an underlying message of reconnecting with nature. By creating art using the land, one is almost forced into a much deeper level of connection. Just as an artist who uses paints and a canvas becomes much closer to the materials they are using, so does the land artist as they use leaves, pinecones, wood and ice, thus reintroducing that long lost connection with nature that our species once had many years ago. For the viewer, a deeper connection is also offered as they are reminded of the inherent beauty that exists in nature.

Land Art first gained popularity in the American West in the '60s and '70s. Many environmentalists started to paint landscape paintings in order to feel that deeper connection with the landscape with hopes of inspiring people to feel eager to save it. However, in order to really inspire people, a more public approach needed to be taken.

Michael Heizer was one of the first artists to create Land Art. He is most well-known for his giant project in the Nevada Desert entitled, " Double Negative." It consisted of a 1,500-foot-long trench, which was naturally created by the displacement of rocks. On either side of this long trench are two manmade trenches, thus it consisted of two negative spaces, one manmade and one naturally occurring. Heizer saw the beauty in what was not there, for it was the negative space that made the piece what it was. This giant piece, which obviously could not be moved, was one of the first that made people question, "What is art if it cannot be put into a museum?" Thus, Heizer became an innovator of public art and also forced people to look deeper at nature. Today, this piece is owned by MOCA.

Andy Goldsworthy took this new idea of land art to a smaller and more feasible level. Every time you are on a hike, and you see some rocks balancing on top of each other, you have Andy Goldsworthy to thank, as he is known as the first to start the worldwide fad of rock balancing. His simple and ephemeral works of land art are created using anything that he can find in his surroundings, thus truly site specific pieces of work. He wanted to be able to connect with nature as directly as possible, so he starting creating art by balancing rocks, placing leaves together in a pattern, or molding icicles formations. Machinery was never used in his pieces besides for a rare few that were public commissions. Spit holds the leaves together, mud helps the rocks to stick, and the heat of his hands melts the ice into his desired shape.

The beauty in his art exists in its ephemeral status. Because real tools or manmade products were ever used, nature would often take its course in destroying the art whether it is a gust of wind, the growth of a plant, or heat causing the ice to melt. Goldsworthy believed that nothing can or should last forever. His deep work with nature obviously helped him to recognize the impermanence in all things.

Patrick Daughtery also believed in the impermanence of his land art. He specialized in creating art that looks as if it was found rather than made. Daughtery was inspired by nests, animal lairs, cocoons and hives which he found in nature. He would often interweave sticks and twigs together in order to create these nests -- never worrying about how long the art would be maintained.

Other land artists prefer to work on an even more delicate scale. Artists Walter Mason and Richard Shilling specialize in art using leaves. Walter Mason created very intricate and ornate carvings into leaves and often leaves them in specific patterns based off the color.

Richard Shilling often incorporates the use of geometry into his art as he places leaves together with sticks, often resembling mandalas. He prefers to use colors that represent the flux of the seasons. Both of these artists take small, usually unnoticeable things, and turn them into true pieces of art. They succeed in not only creating admiration for the talent of the artist, but also a deeper look at an ordinary part of nature that too often goes unnoticed.

Martin Hill and his wife Philippa Jones are modern land artists who seek to create their art on an even deeper, more metaphorical level. They travel around the world to beautiful remote places creating semi-circles made of ice, stone or twig tensegrity techniques on top of bodies of water. Through the use of a camera, they capture the piece at the perfect time when the reflection on the water creates a full " circle of life." The photographs require a very calm reflection on the water in order for the circle to become perfect and complete.

They serve as a metaphor for the interconnectedness of all living beings and the cyclical nature of life. Hill and Jones aim to promote sustainability through this reinforcement of this closed loop, hopefully influencing the ways we design products and create processes. This closed loop design results with no waste, just total recycling. The man-made semi-circle is completed with a naturally made reflection, serving also as a metaphor for our connection with the earth, and the beauty that can be realized if that connection is created in a calm and peaceful manner.

Cornelia Konrads is another amazing land artist who creates site-specific installations in public spaces. Her work has a common theme of the top portion of the structure to seemingly be floating into the sky. She uses stones, sticks and other natural materials, putting them into "piles." The tips of these piles slowly lift up as if some gravitational force is pulling them up and away into the sky. Her pieces bring to the viewer a sense of magic back to nature as they mystify with their floating tufts.

These artists have all created beautiful pieces of work through the use of natural materials. Some land artists, however, seek to create land art that is not just made of live materials, but is also truly living. There is an artist collective in Germany, who go under the name of Sanfte Stukturen, and focus entirely on living architecture. They create domes, altars and palace-like spaces made entirely of living willow trees. They build them using ancient Sumerian building techniques and the results are reminiscent of whimsical structures you might find in fairytales. Since these structures are living, they will grow and change over time. They have built over 70 of these structures around Europe in various parks, forests and museums.

Giuliano Mauri also used this technique of creating a living sculpture with his " Tree Cathedral," which was finished in 2010 in Italy. This 90-foot-long, 80-foot-wide and up to 70-foot-tall "cathedral" was created entirely with living trees. Mauri had a vision of the piece transforming into something complete organic and new over time, so he also planted 80 Hornbeam saplings inside. In 15 years, the piece will have be entirely novel. The title of this project is based of the spiritual connection that one can feel with nature. This is not a real cathedral obviously, yet it offers viewers a place that truly looks and feels sacred.

This type of art has been so inspiring that there has even been entire organizations centered around it. The Land Art Generator Initiative is one of them. They seek to promote sustainable design solutions by integrating art with renewable energy infrastructures. This organization is currently asking for entries for their LAGI 2014 Design competition. They are looking for entries that utilize public art into something that can also create clean energy. This is a little different than the land art, which was mentioned before, yet it is still drawing the attention back to the earth through the use of art. They, however, seek to do this in a more productive way. Ideas are welcomed to be submitted up till May 18.

This type of art offers an entirely new way of interacting with nature and truly does create a relationship between the artist and the earth. In modern times, this connection is vital to our future. I believe that art really can change the world. Both art and nature are purely inspirational. Put together, they might possibly provide us with the key for a bright and long future.

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Creating Connections With Nature Via Art

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Often times in our busy lives, we seem to take some of the important things for granted. It seems to be that more and more each day, the connection between us and our planet earth drifts further and further apart.

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Nature in Art: Detailed Discussion of Nature Inspired Art and Artists — Art is Fun

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Nature in Art: Detailed Discussion of Nature Inspired Art and Artists — Art is Fun

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That gives us a lot to work with! Nature is both all around us and deep within us. We are inseparable from nature - our bodies, lives and minds depend on the air we breathe and the food we eat. The earth sustains our very life force. Without the earth - without nature - what would we be?

Artwork based on nature can take many forms and serve many purposes. Because "nature" is such an immense topic that encompasses so many things, I can only provide a partial list of the various subtopics that may appear in nature-related artwork:

flowers, plants, trees, botany, animals, cells, anatomy, bodily systems, weather, geology, matter, energy, fossils, any of the natural sciences, water, fire, environment, conservation, natural history, processes, evolution, birth, growth, aging, decay, change...

And of course within each subtopic, there are further subtopics, and on and on...

So if you want to create a work of art based on the theme of "nature", you've really got a whole planetful of ideas to work from!

Below you can see one of my colored pencil drawings, Cosmic Frog, followed by a brief description of the way this drawing addresses the subject of nature.

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Nature in Art: Detailed Discussion of Nature Inspired Art and Artists - Art is Fun

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Nature in art can take many forms. Read this in-depth exploration of nature art - such as what inspires artists to create nature-themed artwork, as well as the various ways they go about it.

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Art in nature, it's everywhere - Nature Play QLD 1200 × 900 - 509k - jpg natureplayqld.org.au

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Nature Mandala Art. Each one is ephemeral. Each one comes from nature. Art Prints. Cards. Gifts. Made in Vermont.