Ava • 14 • Meath

12-15 Category   •  2026
My artwork is inspired by the theme “this is nature”. For my piece I chose a small robin bird with its bright colors shown on its chest and its position of flight took a different approach to a bird's typical movements in nature. I first drew the bird with a pencil to create a deeper understanding of shapes and positions and how this can affect shadows. Creating dark and light in the drawing helped to gain understanding of the bird's shapes, position, and layers for a sculpture. In the sculpture, I used a variety of cards and enjoyed learning to cut and use different techniques to create/manipulate the card to the shape I wanted. For the wings I took a different approach and tore the cardboard to create layered feathers, making the feathers more intricate and show how the wings of a bird flow out while a bird is flying. I love nature because it tells a story of time, whether it be old ruins covered in ivy, counting the rings on a tree stump to figure out how old the tree was or a small robin bird that is said to be a spirit of a loved one watching over you. Nature is a break from our technology full world to remember, and I hope I represented this in my sculpture.