Heather Baker
Mini Mandala 3
fountain grass, pine-cone, penny cress seeds, paint on plywood
10 x 10 x 3 in. | $329
Over the past 10 years, I have been creating art by collaging plant and mineral materials (never any animal materials). I am deeply inspired by my time spent in nature. Being immersed in the raw elements of life, in the wild fresh air, unadulterated, creates a perfectly unbiased and refreshing environment for reflection. Here I am not judged. Here I am free. Here I can connect with both future and past from the present moment.
Aesthetically, I am taken by the variety of textures, colors, and shapes of nature. The silky white fluffs of milkweed; the dark, porous and pitted surface of lava stones; the speckled patterned feathers of a juvenile hawk; the clarity of quartz crystals; the way the sun filters through the trees; the perfect spiral on the bottom of a pine cone—it is always a beautiful experience.
My art comes from my reflections in nature—meditations on how the world works, where I fit in and how we all fit in, and thoughts on what it means to be alive on this Earth, sharing this space, this time, and our energies.
My most recent work has been particularly focused on the body and the energy that moves this body and radiates out to touch and interact with the rest of the world. Using natural materials brings it all back to Earth and what we are made of. I also like to create mandalas that simply pay homage to the beauty of the natural world and how we are all connected and part of nature. They represent my feelings of being centered in “wild” places.
© Heather Baker