Leaves, flowers, twigs, and berries. These are all artist Hannah Bullen-Ryner need to create fascinating bird portraits.
People often disregard these gifts from Mother Nature but for Hannah, they are more than just plants and flowers. They give her peace of mind and make the artist in her even more passionate and creative.
By finding leaves, flowers, and tree branches and putting them together, Hannah is able to create unique and amazing portraits of birds, which she also loves.
She puts her delicate art under a small oak or on the woodland floor. Because the portraits only last for a short moment, she immediately takes photographs to capture her beautifully-crafted artworks.
Hannah’s creations showcase her attention to detail and creativity. They also emphasize how excellent she is as a painter and also as a photographer. The flowers and leaves are layered like brushstroke which makes Hannah’s work look like realistic paintings.
Apparently, Hannah is a nature lover and loves being outdoors. Seeing beautiful views makes it easier for her to express her feelings through art. In fact, it helped her deal with her anxiety. She also suffered from postnatal depression and when she was once out in the woods, she found some calm for an hour.
This led Hannah to create bird portraits out of leaves, flowers, and twigs. That day, she made a very simple bird portrait using twigs and leaves, inspired by an online land artist.
When she finished her art piece, a small deer wandered near her and instead of being scared, she locked eyes with the animal which stayed with her for about 20 minutes.
Hannah only uses natural materials for her portraits which allowed her to discover the uniqueness and all the small details of every plant, flower, or tree.
Her new art discovery makes her very excited every time she goes to the woodland, thinking of what she will find and how far her creative juices will take her.
Though some people do not understand why she is making something temporary, Hannah is determined to continue doing this type of artwork and show everyone how beautiful our nature is. “For me, it is the ephemeral nature of what I do that has become like therapy for my soul.
I get to put down all my anxieties, my fears, all the chaos from my brain and turn it into something beautiful to honor Mother Nature. I take some photos and then walk or cycle away, leaving it all behind and feeling calmer, more connected, and truly lighter,” she explained.
In the end, what matters is the peace and joy that land art gives to Hannah. It touched her life in an amazing way and gave her a deep understanding of arts and nature. She is also thankful for those people who appreciate her ephemeral but mesmerizing land artworks.
“I have messages from all over the world these days from people inspired to show others what I do or try it themselves. It makes my heart full to know that people have been giving back to Mother Earth in similar ways. She deserves our utmost love, respect, appreciation, and protection,” Hannah said.
Do you want to see how Hannah combines nature with arts and photography? Check out these stunning pictures of her land art portraits:
