Art From Nature

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a beautiful sunset, just for the picture to not look anything like the real thing in front of you? No matter how hard you try, nothing does the scene in front of you proper justice. If you haven’t had this experience, please tell me your secrets. If you have, I believe this frustration comes from not being able to capture the true essence and beauty of what a place or thing feels like to us. I’ve always loved sharing how I see nature with others, but being a naturalist has opened my eyes to how impactful sharing my connection to nature really can be.

Lately, I’ve been inspired to expand the ways I express this connection. Giving interpretive talks and doing fun, educational programs is of course the name of the game here at Dunes Learning Center. But I think it’s equally as important and special to create something tangible that represents how nature makes you feel. So how better to do this? By creating art out of natural materials! It seems that as soon as I had this thought, I began finding art in shops around this region that do just that.

Art by Regina Walters, Art from Elements

Recently, I found my way to a store called Over Yonder right off of Dunes Highway. In this store I saw physical interpretations of our Indiana Dunes being expressed with materials like beach glass, bark, branches, pebbles - if it can be found outside, it was there. I spent a lot of time looking at these art pieces, feeling the connection the artist had to their environment. Some of them were intricate and some of them were simple, but the sentiment was the same: There is a mutualistic relationship between human and nature, and it can be expressed through art.

Art by Regina Walters, Art from Elements

Making art out of things you can find around you can be a way to connect to the environment around you, while simultaneously preserving the feeling that being in nature provides. This past summer, during one of our camps, we made Sassafras bracelets out of Sassafras branches, wire, and beads with our campers. We cut the branches into 1 inch pieces, hollowed them out with wire, and strung them on string with beads.

While making them, I remember the smell of Sassafras all around me, while my happy campers got lost in their creations. It was amazing watching the campers feel satisfied and proud of themselves for creating something with their own hands out of a plant they may have overlooked in the past. I heard them say how excited they were to take these little pieces of Indiana Dunes home with them, and how they wondered what else they could make with things found in their backyards.

These moments are good reminders that we do have ways to do the beautiful nature scenes around us justice, and you don’t even need your phone to make this happen! Next time you want to capture a feeling that the outdoors gives you, I encourage you to take a look around and see if anything inspires you, and to (literally) take that opportunity into your own hands. Let creating art with natural materials be your time capsule for the intimate moments you have with nature - with the right perspective, the possibilities are endless.

Remember to always follow the NPS’s Leave No Trace guidelines while exploring our Indiana Dunes National Park. Leave rocks, plants, and other natural objects as you find them and NEVER pick any living thing!

Ania Gonzalez

Interpretive Naturalist