An Artist "Paints" A Field Using Carefully Arranged Plants

When we think of art, we tend to imagine it being in a stuffy museum or a gallery somewhere, but lately, more and more artists have been bucking against that trend and finding ways to bring art to the great outdoors. Stan Herd is one such artist, who has for years been using giant fields as his canvas and various meticulously arranged plants as his "paint." His work consists of original pieces as well as recreations of famous works by other artists. 

His latest piece, a massive 1.2 acre recreation of Vincent Van Gogh's 1889 painting "Olive Trees," was commissioned by the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It took him several weeks of careful digging, planting, mowing, and landscaping. The piece will be viewable through the fall and is conveniently located near the airport so arriving and departing travelers can get a great view of it from the sky. 

Where most people see a field (or maybe a spot for a picnic), artist Stan Herd sees possibility.


He has the actual painting converted into a scaled grid so he can see what each plot of land needs to be planted with.

Then the work begins. Weeks of digging, mowing and planting.

Little by little, it comes together.


The finished "painting" (Herd prefers the term "earthwork") as seen from the sky.

Check out this video outlining the process:

Via: This Is Colossal

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