How does Mother Nature influence your medium?

Are you a painter? Sculptor? Mixed media artist? I would love to hear from you about your views on how nature affects your work!

This one is called "Sunlight with a Twist"...and the very word Sunlight gives you a clue as to my muse in titling this one. The flourescent mosaic glass is a nice juxtaposition to the sedate tones of the slate and my really cool craggy find in the top left; a knotted piece of wood found on one of my many Oregon hikes. Housed in a black shadowbox frame, it gives that pop of color a nice backdrop to add to the dimension of the artwork. This one was chosen by a gallery at Cannon Beach OR to be in Shearwater Gallery, along with two other nature-based pieces that are different and yet have the same general nature-based theme.