Inspired by Anne Ten Donkelaar

May 16, 2012 Lindsey Campbell

Right now I don't have much to do. On one hand it feels great to take things slow and live without an agenda. On the other hand, I'm used to the busy life! I understand the saying about how 'time flies when you're having fun' because when you're waiting to do the thing you love, time can go so slow.

On yet another hand - can you believe these beautiful sculptures!? I am very jealous of the artist's courage to hold bugs enough to turn them into works of art. I have given Anne Ten Donkelaar's pieces my own category called 'Deconstructed Nature'. To enjoy the rest of her work, visit her website and then use them for your own inspiration.

I love Anne's look of displayed butterfly varieties through using the pins and the shadow boxes. However, I do not like touching bugs, even if they are beautiful. Instead, I decided to create an easy sculpture using the leaves around our apartment as a momento of this summer's adventure.

After trying many types of leaves, I found that thicker, stiffer leaves work best. They might take a bit longer to dry out but they are the only ones which I ended up using. The first step is using an exacto knife to cut shapes out of leaves in various patterns.

Place the leaves between two sheets of paper towels and stack books on top to flatten them out a bit.

As for the shadow box, it is important to have thick material that the pins can go into. My first thought was to use a few layers of cork tiles. Instead, I found a small sheet of foam for much less and covered it in a bit of linen material.

Once the foam is covered and lightly painted with any color of choice, the leaves and pins are ready to go in. Varying lengths of the pins and leaves look great in any pattern. Use your imagination and go for it!

As soon as the pins and leaves are in place, glue the foam into the shadowbox. I'm sure that with time, the leaves may curl or change color but I am excited to see how the sculpture changes as the years go by.
These small adventures at the beginning of our marriage feel so important on the impact of our family later on. I'm so glad to be in this time of life where every decision will eventually lead to some part of our future and I want to keep a piece of our travels to remember the journeys that we are having.