Nature’s Whispers Unveiled: The Botanical Artistry of Lucy Tipper

I am inspired by the stories that land holds, from folk tales to historical and modern meaning. My images emerge through time spent in quiet listening and embodied experience. This is the starting point for everything I create and paint; a connection to the wild.

When spending time in nature I like to allow myself to slide into the landscape in an open, non-human way, without judgment or expectation, free from agenda. I've found a profound depth that occurs when I repeatedly return to the same space over a long time span. The land begins to open up and share more of her secrets with me the better we know one another. I am a particular fan of liminal moments so the hours before dawn or after the sun has set are my most favourite. I find magic in these precious hours.

Since childhood I have always loved arranging stones, bark, loose plant material or sticks in shapes on the earth. This is guided by the undulations of land or materials that present themselves. I never take items into the wild that I leave behind. They are always just a quiet arrangement of what was already there. Sometimes I drum or sing, depending on the mood in the air, but mostly I just enjoy a simple awareness of being and tuning into my body and noticing what there is to notice. My subconscious is filled with imagery that my human mind may otherwise dismiss, which in turn, inspires my painting.

Once I have respectfully gathered plant materials from the land, I lay them upon my paper, gradually stacking up sheets and plants. I then bind them tightly before boiling in water inside my cauldron. I often do this over an open fire. I feel this imbues the work with all the elements it possibly can. After an hour I take the steaming bundles from the water and reveal the marks left behind.

After unbundling, a little like cloud watching I spend time gazing into all the shapes and textures the plants have produced, this combined with my experiences of sitting with the land allows images to appear. This is where as an artist I really need to get out of my own way and let the shapes reveal themselves, allowing nature to step forward as co-author. My methods have taught me so much about myself, the wild and how to be a creative visual artist.

Sometimes a painting will change direction in a second. There are also really magical moments when I have no understanding of a painting at all, no idea what it means and then magically it makes sense to someone else who sees it. This is where I adore the connections these paintings have made through Earth Pathways and social media. The images have a lifeforce of their own and that makes me feel so grateful.

I am always on the search for how to use this process to highlight landscapes in ecological need. My aim here is to show the world the beauty of something otherwise overlooked. I have had the pleasure of working on projects such as the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust's campaign to highlight the importance of Tipner Point in Portsmouth, where an important and highly protected environment for wildlife was under serious threat of development. Spending time in this urban space and seeing the wildlife flourish there has been such an amazing experience.

I will remain forever changed by my work. Creating is a compulsion I cannot step away from. The desire to create and be in this flow is a celebration of life, in all its myriad forms from growth to death. I believe we all have gifts to offer the wide universe, to share our connections and our amazing humanness through the skills that ignite us and in turn set a flame in those around us and the earth herself. Connecting to the source and allowing that source to irrigate the mundane with beauty is our only task as earth bound beings. Earth Pathways is the perfect place to gather all that creativity together and celebrate.