Smack dab in the middle of glorious summer, Brookings, South Dakota hosts the Arts Festival in Pioneer Park.  Two weekend days of music, food, lemonade, art of all kinds, flea market, trader/trapper rendezvous tents and goods, children’s face painting and activities, more food, and more fresh-squeezed lemonade!  We lived just a few blocks from the park, and I was always amazed at the transformation from quiet playground to exuberant festival.  The art in the park included photography, painting, jewelry, leatherwork, sculptures, pottery, woodwork, fabric arts, and so much more.  With creative minds, art can be made from almost anything.

On our exploration of St. Croix State Park, we saw art in Nature by the Great Creator via a walking tour.  This piece is a collaboration of Mother Nature and the stone masons of the 1930’s who built the roads and crafted this stone pillar for a bridge over Bear Creek.  The stonework and mosswork are exceptional, especially with the indigo background of rippling water!

A Maidenhair Fern tapestry is woven from fall-colored fronds that whirl and blend together, all accented by dark stems.

A light-reflecting prism of water is nestled in a leathery leaf basin, one of many multimedia works of art seen on the tour.

Realistic landscapes are abundant in the Park.  This particular scene transcends realism to an ethereal realm.

This interactive piece is made up of soft green moss over rough bark with a line of fall-colored Virginia Creeper.  Touching is encouraged.

Fungi art is an often overlooked medium that seems to be particularly popular at this time of year.  Bright colors and wonderful textures highlight the geometric shape.

This stone-moss-pine study integrates wonderful textures and details with the muted green and stunning river-blue background.

These images by Current and Foam are ever-changing.  Each evolving creation boasts a unique design and an ink-blot quality to its interpretation. 

A colony of free-standing sculptures arise from the hodge-podge, monochromatic, needle-like matrix that has tiny accents of green.

An ancient, life-giving sculpture is the foundation for an even greater work of art that towers above it.

Dark and moody with punctuation of sunlight and clouds, this reflective work also features bubbly texture along with an applique of lily-pads.

Usually seen in a vertical position, this three-dimensional piece offers a fresh look for the bark-covered cylinder.  Especially unique is the colorful banner of Virginia Creeper hanging below this expansive work of art.

A collage of leaves, duckweed, and grass are picture perfect on a reflecting aqueous background that transmutes trees and azure blue sky to a grounding environment.

These are just a few of the masterpieces from the gallery of Planet Earth.  Nature’s art is available at any time of the year for all to see, study, and admire.  Works of art can touch a place in our souls that needs healing and can inspire us to transformation.  How glorious it is that all of Earth is an exuberant festival of arts!

This post is dedicated to my friend Amy Olsen Linn who has made art in more ways and out of more things than anybody I know.