Art and Nature – Between Treetops and Brushstrokes

I’ve just come back from a walk in the woods. The air is crisp, and the leaves are turning warm shades of yellow and red. It’s a familiar sight every year, yet it always feels new and different. I love autumn! Wrapped up warmly, it’s still perfect weather for being outside. The trees aren’t bare yet, and the forest is putting on a stunning show.

But the forest is a place of retreat and inspiration for me all year round. The changing colours, shapes, scents, and light are endlessly fascinating. You can see it from one time of day to the next, and even more so as the seasons pass. This constant transformation gives me ideas that I try to bring to life in my art.

Colours, Shapes, and Textures: Endless Muse of Nature

When I feel stuck, when my thoughts are going in circles, or my mind feels cluttered, I head into the woods. Just a few steps, and I can feel a shift. The noises from outside fade, replaced by birdsong or the rustling of the wind through the leaves. And beneath it all, there’s a soothing silence.

The forest inspires me to look closer, to notice the fine differences in detail. I translate the forest’s constant transformations into my own visual language, letting nature’s rhythm almost imperceptibly flow into my work.

The spring kissed smoothly, the grove, and the new green sprouted, as a green haze.

- Antonio Machado | The Spring kissed

In spring, when the first buds open and the colours are still soft and fresh, everything feels light, almost fleeting. I bring this delicacy into my studio. My brushstrokes become softer, the colours lighter, sometimes nearly translucent. It feels as if new ideas are budding within me too, gently, like fresh shoots. I try to capture this sense of renewal and hope, without giving too much away – more like a hint of what’s to come.

In summer, when the greens deepen and the woods create a dense canopy of leaves, the light plays with the shadows. It’s like a puzzle of shifting patches of light. I love this balance between depth and vibrancy, and I often find my art needing more layers, more textures. Forms and lines become bolder, details stand out and blend in with their surroundings all at once. The balance between intense colours and quiet simplicity is something that fascinates me every time.

Then comes autumn’s explosion of colour. The leaves, in vivid reds, oranges, and yellows, remind me that even decay can be beautiful. The colours inspire me to be bolder and to play deliberately with contrasts. Change doesn’t always have to be gentle or quiet! The colours can pop, the forms can stand out. My works in autumn reflect this unique mix of lightness and depth, capturing the season’s contrasting moods.

Winter is the season of reduction. When everything shines in shades of grey and cold whites, I rediscover the beauty in simplicity. It feels like a reset – the clear contrast of light and shadow sharpens my focus on what really matters. In this stillness, I find space for minimalist compositions that embrace the unspoken, the quiet tones.

Recharging Among the Trees

I go into the woods without any particular goal. Nature takes away the need to control everything – and that’s exactly what opens the door to creative impulses for me. In the woods, everything can just be as it is – imperfect, wild, unpredictable. The trees stand there, still and patient. I love that, and it inspires me to let go in my own work, to be intuitive, to create freely.

These breaks in nature don’t just give me new ideas; they recharge my creative batteries. Standing among the trees, feeling the all-encompassing quiet, I often realize just how much I needed it. The rush of everyday life falls away, and I feel myself slowly coming back to centre. Sometimes, almost effortlessly, a new perspective, a thought, or an idea for a painting will emerge from this calm.
Then I can return to the studio full of energy, truly present – for my art and for myself.

Impressions from My Walk

Through the Eyes of Nature – Artists and Their Landscapes

Many artists draw their creativity from nature – in all its forms. For me, it’s the woods, since I only have to cross a few streets to be surrounded by trees. But there are so many different types of landscapes, each one inspiring artists over the centuries.

For Claude Monet, his garden in Giverny – especially his water lily pond – was an endless source of inspiration. He would spend hours there, studying the light and capturing the shifting colours on the water. Vincent van Gogh immersed himself completely in the landscape as he painted. While living in the south of France, he would go out daily, painting olive groves, cypress trees, and the vibrant yellow of the sunflower fields. You can still feel that energy in every brushstroke.

For Georgia O’Keeffe, it was flowers that inspired her monumental works, and later, the vast desert landscapes of New Mexico. She found something primal in that place, with its clear shapes and intense colours. She once said that the desert was where she truly found herself.

Where’s Your Place to Recharge?

Maybe this is what art and nature have in common – they help us see things in a new way, give us peace, or bring fresh energy. And each of us experiences that differently. Whether it’s finding peace among ancient trees, by the sea, or in an open field – we all have our own unique way of experiencing nature.

I’d love to hear from you: Where do you clear your mind? Do you have a favourite spot in nature that gives you strength? Feel free to share – I look forward to reading your stories and thoughts!