Beauty abounds in every direction for as far as the eye can see as far as I am concerned. With each little element of perfection, placed elegantly atop the earth for us to marvel upon with a genuine childlike curiosity.
I really believe that art can be found as a manifestation of our literal selves in almost everything that we see on this planet. When I am out hiking the mountains or sailing around the world via sailboat, there is so much to offer and so many ways to capture these little gems that one lifetime simply is not enough!
One can find the artful inspiration of a moment most everywhere you go, sometimes art lays in the small details and being creative with angles to see something different is all it takes. Grand landscapes are my absolute favorite inspiration without question! They captivate us without hesitation and you really don’t need to look very far to see the majesty and beauty within a scene. Because landscapes are so incredible, it is no surprise really that I call the West home. With so many places to explore, the West is a boundless playground in which to capture light! Often when I venture to a new place, I am drawn there because of something majestic to begin with. Most often I am drawn to things that will anchor a scene foundationally such as a tree, a canyon, a high mountain peak, a plateau, a wildflower bloom or something that is eye-catching, jaw dropping or rare!
I would say that most of what I do in finding art in nature is often a very on the fly discovery. Many of the most important aspects of creating a great image may begin with something grand that anchors a scene as stated above, however, the details that draw us into a scene lay in the discovery and truly this is where the real work begins. Often something such as a leading crack in the earth, a foreground object or wildflowers are something I will search for in order to bring a scene alive. Without any foreground interest, there is little to visually lead the eye and bring attention to what I would see as the grand anchor to the composition.
Enough of all of that though… Art in nature is more about feeling and the emotion that each place has on its own. When I arrive somewhere new, I often find myself spending time simply being and breathing, taking it all in if you will. Walking around is often the best way to explore a new scene and honestly even if a place has been visited by many others, free yourself of pre-conceived notions. Allow yourself to feel the landscape and see what it shows you of its own accord. Be open to the idea that it may not look like what you may have thought and work with it in order to reveal to you what it is trying to show you.
Much of what I do in finding art in nature is allowing myself to shake free any thoughts of what I want to come away with and be led by the light! If you are in a place and you see something interesting, let that be your guide! Your intuition is often the right direction to go and rarely if ever will it lead you astray. I believe that the greatest creativity lays within yourself. When you begin to see things beyond what lay in front of you and more for what you see within a place that is inside of your mind’s eye, then you will begin to reveal the truest beauty in a landscape. This is more of a bridge of conscious thought in my opinion. A place where you are gathering elements of natural beauty and composing an orchestra of details within the palette of the mind all while utilizing natural elements of the grandest canvass of all, the earth!
Sukakpak Enchantment by Marlon Holden. Part of the Night Skies Collection
Besides what we have already gone over, I also love to mix textures and tones. The variety of light and atmosphere changes dramatically after or before a storm pushes through, changing the mood from one moment to the next dramatically! For this reason, I absolutely base all of my creative energy on weather and capturing wild light with mood in all of the compositions that I find. These reasons are why I must generally come back multiple times over many trips that can span decade long quests to capture the light how I envision it once I find a subject matter I am in love with!
There are so many elements that must come together in an orchestration of perfection in order to execute on the one shot, in that one place, over that one composition, with the perfect mood, that induces a certain emotion in which only that place can achieve; only given that a certain set of circumstances must come together in order for everything to sync up perfectly! That in my eyes is where finding art in nature is at its purest form. As artists what we decide to do with that moment is up to us to interpret but without it, there is nothing but an empty canvass, blank to see whatever it is that we desire. With these reasons in mind, brings me to my sole purpose in creating magical artworks in nature.
I absolutely love the pursuit of capturing the purest of moments. These moments can be so easily missed with any lapse in judgement or preplanning. The most memorable and timeless works are ones that I have achieved after failing many times and the journey is always less than perfect. Trying to find art in nature after a seventeen-hour drive followed by a ten-mile hike in below freezing conditions can have many of us rather wishing we were cozied up to a fire with something warm to lift our spirits, rather than struggling through something that would bring many to their knees. The sleepless nights and caloric deprived days, driving endless miles only to arrive with less than desirable conditions are what fuels me. Adversity foreshadowed by promise are all the fuel I need, knowing that with a little planning, great equipment, an adventurous spirit and a set of eyes willing to see things from an individualized perspective, that you may come away with unknown treasures captured. For this is a rewarded quest, for those thirsty for adventure, hungry for the journey and ready to take on the most unrealistic of conditions for simply a glimpse of hope in the brevity of a moment. Again, this is what I seek when searching for art in nature!