Sadhbh • 13 • Leitrim

12-15 Category   •  2026
In this piece, I used acrylic paints, wool, an old plastic wrapper that I found, colouring pencils and scraps of crepe paper, and applied them all to a canvas. I painted a "Mother Nature" figure. This is what I imagine Mother Nature to look like. I painted a Goldcrest bird because my sighting of this species of bird inspired this whole piece and I thought it wouldn't be fair not to include it. This bird in my artwork represents hope and the fact that the only way is up. It inspired me because it is so graceful and because it flies so effortlessly. I used acrylic paint to create the background, the bird and the main figure. I used a variety of paintbrushes and borrowed some sponges too, to blend the background. I tried to use a variety of green colours to create a mossy texture on the skin. I used PVA glue to stick the hair on - only the roots so that it would still flow freely. I used scraps of crepe paper that I found as flowers in her hair and I twisted other bits of crepe paper to create the lining of the top. I finished the lining with a light coat of paint. I painted a clear plastic wrapper, then cut it and scrunched it up to make it look like individual flowers. I then filled in the blank spaces with colouring pencils, mostly in green. The rays of light shining through in the background symbolise the fact that there is always a way, even when it seems dark. The figure herself represents how beautiful and complex nature actually is, and how we take that for granted. The flowers made of old plastic symbolise that we need to start reusing and recycling everything or there will be no nature left to protect.