Jon Foreman discovered land art while in college and immediately fell in love with it. He felt that the natural world had more in it to be explored, particularly where he lives, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Since the area has an extensive coastline, a huge part of Foreman's work revolves around the stones he finds near the sea. Using everything from tiny pebbles to big rocks, the artist surprises beachgoers with mesmerizing arrangements that never cease to amaze.
"I create using many natural materials but stone has proven to be the material which I can manipulate best. Be it color, angle, shape, size, placement, spacing," Foreman told Bored Panda. "Typically, I either start with a rough idea of what I'd like to do or no idea whatsoever! Then I collect what I can carry and start by placing stone by stone, steadily losing myself in the process and disconnecting from the stress of everyday life."
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How did the artist find these stones in the environment of the size and color he needed?
By spending plenty of time looking down, proceeding slowly along the beach.
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This is beautiful no doubt, if you look very slowly, the rocks are not exactly the same, as that would be impossible,, however, they are almost precise , nice work !!!
I like this one the best! It looks so balanced and unique. I love the colour choice and the different sized rocks.❤️
Colors vibrate visually. Size of stones and arrangement make for a photograph to cherish.
Jon Foreman- you are amazing, sir! When will you have prints & a calendar available for purchase? I would be thrilled to be a collector. Thank you for sharing your art! ♡
This is so unbelievably perfect that it's hard to believe it's real!
If you all like this, there are other land artists to discover too. Andy Goldsworthy is a great land artist who uses other materials besides stones, like leaves, branches, even ice, and photographs them. My husband and I have one of his books. There's also a great documentary about him called "Rivers and Tides." You get some insight into his process and philosophy. Dennis Oppenheim was another one albeit on a VERY large scale. We have several of his prints on our walls.
If it's nature art, it's not meant to be preserved. You just leave it until the weather melts it away.
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such a beautiful labor. I especially like the toe prints on the bottom left
Foreman said land art presents more to him as an artist than, say, drawing or painting. "There are endless possibilities. Not only that but there are endless environments to work in, each and every one different to the next. Getting out and creating work has a profound effect on my mental health. It keeps my mind healthy and content."
I do this in our yard. We live in the desert, so we use rocks to decorate yards
Foreman said land art presents more to him as an artist than, say, drawing or painting. "There are endless possibilities. Not only that but there are endless environments to work in, each and every one different to the next. Getting out and creating work has a profound effect on my mental health. It keeps my mind healthy and content."
Foreman really took his work to the next level in 2018 when he participated in the Llano Earth Art Fest. "There, I met around 30 artists whom I have known online for years but never met in person. This festival is responsible for so much development in the field and I am extremely grateful for it. Partly due to this festival, land art has developed a really tight and positive community in the last few years."
However, their community has been targeted by news articles which, as far as Foreman can tell, have been nothing more than opinions. In fact, he knows one of them from The Guardian which even stated at the top of the text that it was an opinion. "Many people read it then took it to be fact. These articles claim that what we create is damaging to the environment and creatures that may be living there. I absolutely oppose this as we are creating work with nature and if anything, we do it to show that it needs protecting."
"Just as an example, these stone creations are made only a few feet away from where I collected them. The tide then comes and washes them back to where they came from. How is that damaging?" the artist asked. "Any creatures that live in this environment (I almost never come across any) will be used to such turbulent conditions and me moving rocks will make no difference at all. The creatures that do live in these conditions will not be settling down to make homes. They are constantly moving like the tide does."
"Take a step away from the outdoors. Look at the materials around you. Where have they come from? The batteries that are in our phones/laptops are made from materials that have been mined from the ground. The cars we drive, the paper we use, the art supplies I would otherwise be using if I wasn't using materials outdoors. All this is more damaging to the environment than anything I do."
What a perfect example of how our minds find beauty and solace in recognizable patterns.
How beautiful! I had to look twice to figure out how they made this one.
I totally did this when I was at the beach and I thought I was being such a nerd now I know I was just completely artistic and that it is considered therapeutic I just thought I was being obsessive lol!
Note: this post originally had 80 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Imagine the insane amount of creativity, time & patience it must've taken to come up with the designs and implement them. I'm just floored..
And actually quite a bit of healthy/quiet exercise!
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This is probably the greatest article on BP I've seen. I love rocks, stones, seashells, Crystals and of course the beach. Very creative and beautiful.
Nothing beats when something hits on so many levels you feel as if it was made just for you.
Load More Replies... Sometime in the future, three scientists will be at each others throats. One claiming that all evidence tells of a fertility cult, another disclaiming that as rubbish, since it is clear beyond doubt that the ancients were worshipping the sea and the sea creatures, while the third one is certain that these were attempts to channel cosmic energy possibly even as energy paths guiding space entities of unknown kinds. Well done, pebble picker!
Some of these pictures are hallucinogenic........ i think the artist was stoned
These are so beautiful. I would love to somehow have them made into a more permanent and stable form and used as a patio. These artists could have a very lucrative business installing patios.
His works are magnificent. Using nature, her contours, flow, to create such beauty is so magical. I know he says in the quote that he sometimes has a plan, but sometimes not at all. I wonder if he just lets nature speak to him, per se', and be inspired by his surroundings at that moment. His creations are so beautiful, jewelry would be amazing modeled after so many of these. I would love to wear them. His skills are truly fabulous.
It seems to me that if we all did something so beautiful and magical with our creativity that made people smile and gape in amazement, our world would be a much better place. I totally love this <3
I wonder how long it took to gather all those rocks, so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. Were these all along the same beach? Could he have carried them with him somehow? And why are there no footprints in the sand?
He will have smoothed the sand over when he finished working.
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If you scroll down this post very fast and the pictures superpose; it's quite hypnotic.
This artist is incredible,his work is the most creative I have seen for a long time ,and I love his non attachment to his designs .
These are fantastic. I’d love something like this, on a smaller scale in my back yard...or even in front but embedded in concrete! Love it
This is my home county and many of these appear on the beach in my village, this guy is super talented I love seeing his designs pop up around the county. We have hundreds of beaches so he really does have a lot to play with. There is someone who also creates patterns in the sand using a rake I think which are incredibly cool also. Hours of work washed away in the blink of an eye, really is food for thought
Those were beautiful i would love to do that i just dont have the time
These are beautiful! I can see how creating these would be very meditative and calming.
Incredible beauty in each, amazing talent to be blessed with, the pleasure for Jon, as he creates beauty, and the pleasure ,for us to enjoy !!!
My second viewing, still such enjoyment, to use talent in nature, has me love it even more, this type of talent, I truly respect, thanks B.P. !!!
I am blown away. So beautiful. Makes me want to find a beach and start creating.
The talent is incredible, I enjoyed my second view, more time needed for a third !!!
Just lovely ! Gives me a peaceful zen feeling & so impressed with his creativity, detail & use of color / depth, etc. and love for the sandy beach back drop ( aka Nature) . Namaste right here. 😎🙏🏻
Just thinking of the time spent finding the stones, thinking of design and building the art. Beautiful.
I love these! I saw something somewhat similar on Third Beach at Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC. Instead of these mandala-like configurations, the artist, whoever they may be, stacked stones in the incredible displays of balance. Pretty cool stuff.
They are beautiful works of art. I just have a hard time believing that all the rocks were found near the art. I can’t even find more than a rock or two near a beach much less enough to make these colorful works of art. So do the artists bring some of their own rocks? Is that okay to do that?
It's one of those "Why didn't I think of that projects?" Highly imaginative and very beautiful! I agree with Bambi about patience and creativity. It would break my heart if after all that the tide came in and washed it away or some idiot (and there is no shortage of them) decided that rearrangement by foot was in order. Congratulations to the artist!
It must take equally long to find appropriate stones as it is to arrange them so perfectly and beautifully.
such a shame hame that this goes on the internet and the artist gets some praise but no money. I guess He'll have to go back to some another awful low paid job and never get a chance to extend his talent.
He could make a lot of money doing commissioned pieces in gardens. These are simply stunning!
Even though these images are pretty, something about it is triggering my trypophobia
I am in complete awe! So many beautiful creations. So jealous that he has such a rich treasury of materials that he can work with. Not fair.
Beautiful!!! When I was younger, on a camping trip, I put stones in circles but it was really bad. This, though, is incredible!!!!!
Outstanding! One of the best articles on Bored Panda in a long, long time. Thank you Jon Foreman.
Amazing stuff! I'd love to see HOW he does this, what tools he uses and what they look like after being out in the elements for a while.
Enjoyed these. Lots of talent, imagination and patience. I don't mean to take away anything from the artist but the shape, texture and color of the rocks deserve some credit too.
These are beautiful! But they also made me weirdly and increasingly uncomfortable and I have no idea why.
The spiral with the arms that start skinny get fat and get skinny again for some reason got to me. Not sure why..It's number 23 right now.
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Not many animals reside in washed up stones, and if they do, they will likely die quickly if meant to live in the water.
Load More Replies... Imagine the insane amount of creativity, time & patience it must've taken to come up with the designs and implement them. I'm just floored..
And actually quite a bit of healthy/quiet exercise!
Load More Replies... This is probably the greatest article on BP I've seen. I love rocks, stones, seashells, Crystals and of course the beach. Very creative and beautiful.
Nothing beats when something hits on so many levels you feel as if it was made just for you.
Load More Replies... Sometime in the future, three scientists will be at each others throats. One claiming that all evidence tells of a fertility cult, another disclaiming that as rubbish, since it is clear beyond doubt that the ancients were worshipping the sea and the sea creatures, while the third one is certain that these were attempts to channel cosmic energy possibly even as energy paths guiding space entities of unknown kinds. Well done, pebble picker!
Some of these pictures are hallucinogenic........ i think the artist was stoned
These are so beautiful. I would love to somehow have them made into a more permanent and stable form and used as a patio. These artists could have a very lucrative business installing patios.
His works are magnificent. Using nature, her contours, flow, to create such beauty is so magical. I know he says in the quote that he sometimes has a plan, but sometimes not at all. I wonder if he just lets nature speak to him, per se', and be inspired by his surroundings at that moment. His creations are so beautiful, jewelry would be amazing modeled after so many of these. I would love to wear them. His skills are truly fabulous.
It seems to me that if we all did something so beautiful and magical with our creativity that made people smile and gape in amazement, our world would be a much better place. I totally love this <3
I wonder how long it took to gather all those rocks, so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. Were these all along the same beach? Could he have carried them with him somehow? And why are there no footprints in the sand?
He will have smoothed the sand over when he finished working.
Load More Replies... If you scroll down this post very fast and the pictures superpose; it's quite hypnotic.
This artist is incredible,his work is the most creative I have seen for a long time ,and I love his non attachment to his designs .
These are fantastic. I’d love something like this, on a smaller scale in my back yard...or even in front but embedded in concrete! Love it
This is my home county and many of these appear on the beach in my village, this guy is super talented I love seeing his designs pop up around the county. We have hundreds of beaches so he really does have a lot to play with. There is someone who also creates patterns in the sand using a rake I think which are incredibly cool also. Hours of work washed away in the blink of an eye, really is food for thought
Those were beautiful i would love to do that i just dont have the time
These are beautiful! I can see how creating these would be very meditative and calming.
Incredible beauty in each, amazing talent to be blessed with, the pleasure for Jon, as he creates beauty, and the pleasure ,for us to enjoy !!!
My second viewing, still such enjoyment, to use talent in nature, has me love it even more, this type of talent, I truly respect, thanks B.P. !!!
I am blown away. So beautiful. Makes me want to find a beach and start creating.
The talent is incredible, I enjoyed my second view, more time needed for a third !!!
Just lovely ! Gives me a peaceful zen feeling & so impressed with his creativity, detail & use of color / depth, etc. and love for the sandy beach back drop ( aka Nature) . Namaste right here. 😎🙏🏻
Just thinking of the time spent finding the stones, thinking of design and building the art. Beautiful.
I love these! I saw something somewhat similar on Third Beach at Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC. Instead of these mandala-like configurations, the artist, whoever they may be, stacked stones in the incredible displays of balance. Pretty cool stuff.
They are beautiful works of art. I just have a hard time believing that all the rocks were found near the art. I can’t even find more than a rock or two near a beach much less enough to make these colorful works of art. So do the artists bring some of their own rocks? Is that okay to do that?
It's one of those "Why didn't I think of that projects?" Highly imaginative and very beautiful! I agree with Bambi about patience and creativity. It would break my heart if after all that the tide came in and washed it away or some idiot (and there is no shortage of them) decided that rearrangement by foot was in order. Congratulations to the artist!
It must take equally long to find appropriate stones as it is to arrange them so perfectly and beautifully.
such a shame hame that this goes on the internet and the artist gets some praise but no money. I guess He'll have to go back to some another awful low paid job and never get a chance to extend his talent.
He could make a lot of money doing commissioned pieces in gardens. These are simply stunning!
Even though these images are pretty, something about it is triggering my trypophobia
I am in complete awe! So many beautiful creations. So jealous that he has such a rich treasury of materials that he can work with. Not fair.
Beautiful!!! When I was younger, on a camping trip, I put stones in circles but it was really bad. This, though, is incredible!!!!!
Outstanding! One of the best articles on Bored Panda in a long, long time. Thank you Jon Foreman.
Amazing stuff! I'd love to see HOW he does this, what tools he uses and what they look like after being out in the elements for a while.
Enjoyed these. Lots of talent, imagination and patience. I don't mean to take away anything from the artist but the shape, texture and color of the rocks deserve some credit too.
These are beautiful! But they also made me weirdly and increasingly uncomfortable and I have no idea why.
The spiral with the arms that start skinny get fat and get skinny again for some reason got to me. Not sure why..It's number 23 right now.
Load More Replies... Not many animals reside in washed up stones, and if they do, they will likely die quickly if meant to live in the water.
Load More Replies...