I have arranged the land art images into 3 different groups but some sculptures cannot be neatly categorized.
The “Small Works” gallery features works which are approximately the size of a soccer ball or smaller – easily held in one hand.
“Larger Works” are those too large to comfortably hold in one hand. In some cases they may be much larger, often shaped on the landscape itself.
The “Spirals” gallery contains pieces which were designed specifically with the spiral shape in mind. You may notice that some crossovers occur as some of my pieces may use a spiral motif but may not entirely focus on the shape of the spiral itself to tell the story of the work as it sits in the landscape.
You may also notice that the same sculpture may appear in a few different locations/settings. This happens because the piece is moveable and I enjoy seeing how it may look in different surroundings. Finally, a singular sculpture may have been photographed at different times of the day or over multiple days. This is to see/show how the experience of the sculpture evolves as it reacts to the changing quality of light and shadow.
Environmental art, aka Land Art, has many definitions depending on who you ask. My own personal guidelines are these:
- The work arises out of a direct experience of nature in some way. It may be a love for a particular location, a discovery of an abundance of materials with which to work, or the knowledge that a special celestial event will occur that I hope to capture in some way with a piece of work. Each sculpture has its own unique story to tell.
- The work is made primarily with natural materials (with some small exceptions such as needle and thread or raffia or very tiny bits of wire to hold things together) and minimal hand-tools. No power tools are used ever.
- The work is ephemeral and often the photograph is all that remains of the piece, thus the photograph becomes both a record of the work and also a new extension of the work.
- No extensive Photoshop “tricks” are to be used to make a sculpture more than it was in real life. If you had been standing next to me when the image was taken, you would have seen the sculpture as it appears in these photographs. That said, images are processed for optimum exposure, color and composition. Small edits can and will be made if they enhance the experience of the image. I allow this because our own eyes can edit, render and compose any visual experience to our own liking without the use of software and without us even realizing we do this. Therefore, for me these digital tools are merely and extension of my own artist’s eye.
For those people who may feel that environmental/land artists like myself are merely copying other land artists who have come before I would say this: of course you are entitled to your opinion. However, each person who might collect and arrange pine cones in a forest or seashells on the beach is expressing a primal desire which is enshrined in the human experience: humans want to make beauty with nature. We have been doing this for millennia ever since we started applying ground stones and berries to cave walls.
Certainly some artists are more gifted than others. Some artists have had enormous commercial success with their work which they fully deserve for all their cold, early mornings and frozen fingers when the rest of the world is snug and warm in their beds.
But just because one land artist’s piece may remind you of another artist’s work, be assured, none of this is meant to be “copying”. Each environment is unique and filled with inspirational materials equally unique to that place and time. Each artist has their own relationship with what is thus encountered and we each have our own way of working.
I invite you to look at each piece with fresh eyes and to enjoy each magical moment as it was captured in the camera. Let judgements and assumptions slip away and just soak in the pleasure and beauty of each sculpture as it sits harmoniously in the environment that helped to create it.
If you enjoy these works and feel a sense of peaceful inspiration from viewing these gallery images, please know that most of these images are available in various forms in my SHOP. The extended shop will be opening soon and more items will be added as time goes on.
Most of my BOOKS are printed and shipped per order. You can add them to your own library collections and/or they make unusual and memorable gifts which you can have shipped directly to the destination of your choice. Also, because each is individually printed to order, they are environmentally friendly as there is no waste from over-runs as can happen with traditional publishers.
The book titled GREENSPIRIT shows all of my best early works and has both land art and fairy house images to enjoy in large, bold images on each page.
For anyone who has a particular affinity for spiral designs (and you know who they are if you are one or have one in your life! ) I have created a special book that features just those sculptures. You can find more about the book HERE. Just scroll down.
For a more elegant gift (for yourself or another) may I suggest you check out the hardcover book titled ENVIRAMAGINATION as it contains all my very best images from the last decade of sculpture work. You can find that book HERE. It is available in a soft-cover edition found on the same page
Your purchases are a direct and practical way to help support me and my work for which I am so grateful and appreciate VERY much.
As time allows and as inspiration (and requests arise) I will be offering these images as fine art prints and other additional products in the new shop. (opening soon! )
Be sure to sign up to my blog or newsletter to be notified when the new shop opens and when new items arrive.
