Calling all artists! Tired of dipping deep into your wallet in order to pay for the primed cotton duck canvas that is conventionally used as the backdrop for the scenes leaping out of your imagination?
If you've been dialed into the eco-art scene as of late, then you are probably quite familiar with vast selection of alternative recycled materials that can be used as a foil for your creative inclinations - supplies that can be obtained with little or no financial investment (other than determined dumpster diving and garbage can reclamation).
As we've learned in the past from Canadian painter Brian Hunter, alley-abandoned mattresses make a perfect foil for oil paint and London artist Nick Gentry has shown us that unwanted computer disks, cassette and VCR tapes all serve as the ideal up cycled background for edgy 80's inspired portraits.
But maybe you're a closet "canvas purist," leaning more toward using alternative surfaces that weren't initially created via a toxic cocktail of environmentally-polluting chemicals.
No problem. You could still use reclaimed windows if you wanted to create a slightly edgy presentation or even pieces of wooden house shingles for a rustic feel, but as eco-artist Norm Magnusson demonstrates, you can transform your craft into a virtual zero carbon footprint affair by simply taking a walk through the forest before you head back into your studio.
It is there that you will inevitably find suitable alternative eco-canvases ripe for the picking -- such as rocks, sticks, fallen leaves and pinecones -- and as his Decorating Nature series proves, every single one of Mother Nature's found treasures can become elevated to something that is astoundingly eye-catching and museum worthy.
All it takes is a little paint...and imagination...and a sense of colour and balance - oh, who am I kidding? The result of his efforts is clearly no accident -- the guy surely knows what he's doing with a paintbrush.
"For someone who thinks a lot about my place as an artist in the environment, it's quite agreeable to make art that has less environmental impact," explains Magnusson. He achieves this goal by creating -- and then leaving behind -- the tangible result of his collaboration with biodegradable canvases and art colours.
The artist surrenders his creations to Mother Nature and once they are subjected to the elements, "The painted leaves are long gone, decomposed and reconnected with the earth. The stones are taken away by the stream." Now THAT's minimal impact art with a sense of fleeting impermanence.
While Magnusson admits that he is in the "stuff making business," he continually strives through his eco-works to create aesthetically and intellectually accessible pieces that honor - and at least for a small moment in time - enhance nature.
What do you think of his efforts?
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