The landscape here on the southernmost shores of Africa can be fairly drab in general, with olive green vegetation and dull grey rock. Sometimes there is a bit of color though, and those times can be as shockingly bright as the rest is dull. I guess the camo colors are the norm here in dry Africa, but somehow nature had a sense of artistic flair too, and so she added some dazzlingly intense little splashes of color here and there for effect.
An out of place striped boulder near the shoreline, with the olive green on the grey rock slopes behind
Nature's brush is lit with color
I have not added to the color of these photos, other than to make them clearer and adjust the light. Other than that, this is the normal color produced by nature on her bright days. Obviously the flowers are dazzling to attract the insects for reproduction. This is especially so since many of these indigenous Fynbos flora, as they are called locally, have no smell at all. So it’s up to the colors to attract the pollinators to do their work.
A dazzling example of the Fynbos Floral Kingdom endemic to the southern shores of Africa
Outside the ordinary, surreal impressions dot the landscape
Yet it’s not just the flowers that appear so bright and sprightly on occasion. Even the rocks sometimes jump out at you with their rich colors and attractive patterns. Stripes are not usually my thing but on these rocks they really look unusual and quite peculiar. Some look like zebra. I presume it’s due to the diverse rock types and mineral content that is scattered through some of the rock formation that makes up the southern African continental landmass.
Open air art gallery
It’s like having a cultural outing to a modern art gallery when I encounter these diverse manifestations of abstract art produced by nature. Whether sculpture or pigmentation on a rocky surface or a dazzlingly psychedelic pink flower bud, nature somehow comes up with works that might compare with any of the so-called “masters” of fine art in the twentieth century. Perhaps they took their inspiration from nature, who is after all the original in all things.
I love this mustard yellow shade created by the lichen growing on the rock surface. The orange and black perhaps too.
What is art?
So what is it that really determines a good piece of artwork? It used to require religious significance in the Medieval times (and prior to that). Then technical accuracy became valued as a sign of good art. Later the ability to capture light, and thereby mood, was prized while technical drawing skill became less important when valuing true art. Later it became the ability to break boundaries, then a return to hyper-realism.
I believe that an item is a successful piece of art if it improves the mood of the observer or inspires some healthy emotion or even intellectual state of mind. If it makes you feel a sense of harmony and beauty, then it is a successful piece of art. Since art mimics nature, I am even able to simply look at the apparently random weathered productions of nature to see art in progress.
Jackson Pollock got his ideas from nature.
Intelligent design behind the harmony of nature?
The rock, and even the clouds – fleeting as they are – what to speak of the living organisms of nature – can so easily conjure up an appreciation for aesthetics and beauty. And that is because nature is inherently perfect, beautiful and proportioned. Even if it is an asymmetrical shape, still it appears to have a luminous quality about it, which turns it into a piece of art for me.
If the rocks are small enough, I might take some home with me to put in the garden, although usually they are massive, though the odd pebble might make it into my pocket. I feel like a treasure hunter, picking up piles of precious pebbles as if they were coins strewn all over to be freely collected in the Garden of Eden, aka The Eden District Municipality here on the Cape south coast.
A little waterfall on the hiking trail hugging the coast
The object of today’s photos is to return your attention to the artistic yet spontaneous productions of nature. If I can describe my perception of nature as artistically inspiring, then perhaps you might vicariously pick that up too. And to make it easier, I share with you some of my discoveries which, to me, are good examples of art by nature. These pieces are aesthetically appealing and so have done their job in qualifying as artworks in my opinion.
Links to my own art galleries for NFTs
I am busy turning some of these photos of abstract nature art into NFTs. I have one or two already minted on the blockchain. I like WAX and Polygon via Opensea for such minting. Here is a link to my prior NFT minted of a photo with nature as artist: https://wax.atomichub.io/market/sale/12100221
This is on the WAX blockchain, selling for 0.5WAX, about 3UScents today at the bottom of the bear market. I’m sure it will be worth at least 10x that in three years at the next market top. Not exactly a way to get rich but I love the hobby.
These abstract mushrooms have a thing going on here which looks harmonious in both color and shape
I use the Hive blockchain for minting my own personal artworks, which you can see here in my gallery https://nftshowroom.com/julianhorack/gallery Let’s see which of today’s pictures might make attractive NFTs for my collection which I call “Nature as artist”. And today I am her curator.
(photos my own)