Artist Sonia Rentsch created this striking series of sculptures for January Biannual (photographed by Albert Comper and art direction by Olivia Nichols), using natural materials like leaves, sticks and seed pods to mimic the form of guns and other weapons. Entitled “Harm Less,” the images stir thoughts of beauty and violence within man and nature.

See the rest: Artist Sonia Rentsch creates guns made from nature

Artist carves haunting natural forms into discarded objects (Photos) 

British artist Tony Plant, a sand-painter and photographer who borrows his canvas from nature by using the wet sand of low-lying coastal lands of England as his working surface. His art is deceptively simple but impressive, employing simple tools like garden rakes to create large-scale sand artworks.

(via Artist’s Massive Sand Paintings Disappear With the Tides (Video) : TreeHugger)

(via Artist’s Astounding Architectural Skylines are Made out of Scrap Wood)

(via Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei Uses 760 Bicycles for his Latest Show )

This is just a sampling of The Most Inspiring Art of 2012. See all 22 pieces that made our list. 

Artist Creates Free-Flowing Sculptures From 10,000’s of Recycled Feathers (Photos)

© Jessica Rath
Drap d’or gueneme
3” x 3.5” x 3.5” (each), high-fire glazed porcelain

From Richard Shilling’s land art sculptures to Brett Van Ort’s photos of land mine landscapes, some of my favorite art to feature here on TreeHugger is that which reminds us of the connection between man and the natural world.

From Jessica Rath’s project, take me to the apple breeder:
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“Intrigued by science journalist Michael Pollan’s description of rare, odd apples from the Noah’s Ark of apples in his book Botany of Desire, Jessica visited the Plant Genetics Resource Unit (PGRU) in Geneva, New York, a joint USDA/Cornell University project. The reason for this vast living collection… unknown to most people, edible apples cannot be planted from seed, they must be grafted from existing trees, thus keeping the variety literally “alive” to save it. At the PGRU, buds are collected from apple trees all over the world, then grafted onto dwarf rootstock and matured until fruiting.”

(via Art Photo of the Day: Jessica Rath Uses Sculpture to Highlight Hybrid and Endangered Apples : TreeHugger)

Like the Kardashians or Snookie, Honey Boo Boo has become one of those American celebrities that defy the odds and can confuse anyone that attempts to understand how or why their fame came to be. I won’t attempt to dissect it here, but simply want to point you to what I think is an impressive bit of art.

In the video above, you’ll see mosaic portrait artist, Jason Mecier take 25 pounds of trash and found objects and create an incredibly detailed portrait sculpture of Honey Boo Boo.

Click through the gallery for more of Mecier’s impressive 3D trash sculptures, including Snoop Dogg, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Lady Gaga and more.

via Honey Boo Boo is a Trashy Work of Art and Other Jason Mecier 3D Portraits

(via Architectural Sand Castles are Geometric Wonders : TreeHugger)

© Richard Shilling 

Yesterday, Jaymi’s lovely apple harvest photo got me thinking about this piece by Richard Shilling, which is part of his Land Art collection. Much of Shilling’s work is simple, but profound, finding beauty and form in nature. I’m always drawn to these sort of chromatic spectrum sculptures, whether they be made with a series of fall leaves or multi-colored carrots or Shilling’s apples. In every case, they remind me of the wondrous variety found in nature.

(via Photo of the Day: Richard Shilling’s Apples : TreeHugger)

An artist collaborative known as Kingyobu has turned Osaka’s old booths into giant goldfish aquariums. via Japanese Collective Turns Old Phone Booths Into Aquariums

“…the pages bloom from the spine, lines of type swoop in an elegant cascade, and the cover acts as a perfectly pitched roof as if to shelter words from a storm.”

(via Photo of the Day: New Life for an Old Book : TreeHugger)