Diane • 15 • Dublin

12-15 Category   •  2026
My artwork is named ‘Cycle of Nature’, my piece is mixed media created using paint, colouring pencils and oil pastels. It was really challenging for me to think of an idea for this project, but when I was reflecting on nature I realised that nature isn’t just life but also a cycle, and one of the main cycles in nature is the life cycle .My piece explores the natural cycle of life and death. I chose a swan as the central subject as they represent life, purity and calmness .Surrounding and circling the swan are Pipevine Swallowtails which represent the transition of life to death, they show the inevitable and constant change happening in nature. The plant’s also show the two sides of nature.On one side the lily pads and reeds are bright and full of life while on the other side they are dull and dying, This contrast shows that life and death can coexist and also highlights the cycle of life and death in nature. I added the sun to reinforce my idea and show that nature is a cycle of life and death endlessly repeating much like how the sun rises and sets each day. Overall my piece shows that nature is not just life but it is an ongoing cycle of life and death. I am really happy with how my piece came out as I never make full works of art with this much thought and time, I really liked being able to connect my ideas and I really enjoyed working with oil pastels as I had never used them before. Thank you for your time.