Photo courtesy Nature Sprites Designs
Nature Sprites Designs - Wood Elf
Nature Sprites Designs - Wood Elf
While on a hike or exploring nature, what do you see? Perhaps you notice the trail, the forest, the trees, the detailed bark on the trees, the many patterns and shapes the bark creates, and the faces … yes, faces that seem to stare back with a bit of mischief and magic.
To singer and songwriter Barbara Stephan, stepping further into the photography and artistic realm came naturally, yet unexpectedly. A hike in Oregon caused her to see nature in a new form, bringing it to life through the faces and characters that appeared before her eyes. Stephan stated, “This is all so fascinating to me ... It’s like I spontaneously woke up one day to a world of unending imagination. Faces of creatures and otherworldly beings are constantly coming to life before my eyes.”
Photo courtesy Nature Sprites Designs
Nature Sprites Designs - SHE
Nature Sprites Designs - SHE
After capturing the photo, Stephan interacts with these sprites, contrasting the colors and accentuating their facial characteristics based on her intuitive connection with them and their natural origination. Whether the sprite was found on a piece of bark in the woods or in between the swirls of marble on her bathroom floor, she edits the images and even draws over the printed photograph to fully capture the essence of the faces, bringing them back to life in their true form via mixed media.
|
|
Through her works entitled, SHE, Elf in Marble (found within the marble floor inside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Milwaukee), Man in the Wood, The Baba Yaga and others, Stephan wants to share these images to inspire a greater connection with nature, and our need to preserve it. She even partners with One Tree Planted, committing to plant a tree with each customer purchase. Stephan shares, “We aren’t just connected to nature … we are nature. We are the product of nature’s incredibly powerful imagination. We are meant to live and thrive in a flow of our own, unique creative power.”
You can view her work at naturespritesdesigns.com or facebook.com/mysticalphotoart and in upcoming exhibitions including Saturday June 18 at the Richfield Art at the Mill Art and Fine Craft Fair from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Richfield Historical Park 4399 Pleasant Hill Road, and other events in the greater Milwaukee area.
