Making art with nature is a great way to learn more about the environment, exercise your creativity and play around with organic textures and shapes! Here’s how to get started and things to keep in mind.
Take a stroll outside and find some rocks, leaves, and sticks.
Try to pick things that have already fallen to the ground. Do not over pick plants that are in not yet fully grown or plants that are sparse. Picking a few rocks or leaves off a big tree is okay but picking all the flowers in a small patch is not! It is important to be respectful of your surroundings and pick things in moderation.
Once you have gathered some parts for your art you can start to compile them into an image! You can search on the internet for ideas or make a sketch. You can also just play around with what you have and come up with an idea that way. It is all up to you!
Below I spent some time to arrange a few pieces together. I started off with a bug shape and then changed my idea to a bird.
Along the way I keep arranging elements and looked for details to add to my image. For example I noticed this yellow leaf had a brown spot on it so I turned it around to make it look like the bird’s eye!
This type of art isn’t permanent. If you’d like to keep your picture you can place it in a frame to press down the leaves and flowers or take a picture and print it out. It is also perfectly fine to finish, admire it, and leave your pieces back outside in nature again. This art piece may not last as long as a painting or drawing would but it serves as a way to remind us to be mindful of our environment, to not be so attached to the idea of permanency in life just like the cycle of nature itself and to see the beauty in nature!
