“Art allows us to develop a love for places and objects we may have never noticed before,” says New Orleans and Atlanta artist Deedra Ludwig about the motivation for her widely recognized nature-based paintings. Taking elements of landscape--the flora of wild places--Ludwig weaves together images that allow viewers to create their own narratives and meditations on nature. 

Ludwig aims to create “the essence of a landscape” using oil pigments, ink, and nontraditional materials, which include soil and “ground botanical specimens.” These, the artist says, “serve as a foundation for the sense of place that is layered into each painting.”

Right: Forest Serenade, II; 40 x 28 inches, oil on canvas