Featured Artist Sally Smith

Artist Sally Smith shares a wonder and delight in nature through her environmental art. Enjoy her work and see more by visiting her website.

 

 

I create my sculptures year-round in the richly textured landscape of the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York. Working in the moment with materials I find in nature the finished pieces have a sense of unity and harmony, as if they belong to the land which formed them.

 

 

And yet, there is a spiritual quality present in the works as well that often hints of worlds beyond everyday perceptions.

 

 

My work moves along two parallel paths of exploration and expression. The ephemeral site-specific compositions, are generally made with what I find nearby and are constructed without glue. When finished, I take the photos and walk away.

 

 

Being 100% natural, they will eventually return to the earth – in a season, a day or perhaps just a few hours. Each image is a record of these conversations with the landscape and represents actual structures made in situ, not Photoshop tricks. Changing seasons bring fresh adventures, and new discoveries.

 

 

Next, I bring the best materials and lessons back from the forest into the studio where I create my more elaborate miniature houses which are highly detailed and deeply rooted in the natural world. I find satisfaction in resolving certain engineering challenges such as how to make fully functional doors from tiny twigs or ‘stained-glass’ windows from Dragonfly or Butterfly wings.

 

 

The quest becomes to work as if magic is real, childhood is not lost and the sense of refuge and tranquility inside a sacred structure can be attained in the smallest of spaces. Each dwelling is a micro-architectural jewel and a labor of love, designed to become a Hermitage for the Soul.

 

 

My images are licensed with calendar companies and I have my own line of greetings cards, fine art prints on paper and canvas and books which can be found on my website. I am also available for commissions and installations for both the environmental as well as Faerie house sculptures.