The Beauty of Nature in Art: A Reflection on World Earth Day
World Earth Day takes place every year on April 22nd as an event to help spotlight the ecological challenges that face our planet today and this year the theme is Invest In Our Planet. This is a call for us all to invest in a better future for the planet and Earth Day organisers have done their best to help us all contribute as much as we can. EARTHDAY.ORG even giving us a map of events for the day.
Of course, we do believe every day should be Earth Day and it is something that is always on our minds when appreciating art. Marie Therese King’s works are so precisely observed from life and nature and is at the core of her work and life. She is constantly observing nature and recording its every movement, every fluttering and beautiful development. Yet sadly we do see changes, the demise of certain natural inhabitants in our world, so it is vital to be aware of this and to each do our best to help move our planet forward in a positive and environmentally friendly way.
Recent works from artists like Marie-Therese like her ‘Dandelions & Pollinators’ batik, are absorbed in the beauty of nature, the Dandelions kindly hosting nature with butterflies and bees in total appreciation and the pollinators bursting into life. These are the kind of observations we need to keep in the forefront so we all continue to encourage the beauty of nature.
Of course so many artists from William Morris to Hockney have emphasised the importance of nature and its beauty. Morris’s mantra ‘Wherever nature works there will be beauty’ is so true.
As an artist lucky enough to live with a wonderful group of individuals in an intentional community and although they are not solely self-sufficient, they do their best to embrace nature and provide as much organic fruit and veg as we can. If we can all do our bit to contribute to being aware of our planet and its needs in whatever way we can, this can help so much to contribute to the future of our planet.
King aims, with her work, to bring images of the natural world to as many people as she can which she hopes will positively impact people all over the world with her vision of wonder and awe at what surrounds us every day.
So if on this World Earth Day art like this can help others appreciate the beauty of our world and the importance of helping to be part of its future with our actions and respect of the environment then that makes it all worthwhile.
