Design is an opportunity to continue telling the story, not just to sum everything up.

― Tate Linden

Tina leads the challenge this week and she looks for shapes and designs. I believe the most common and the most used designs and shapes all originate from the natural world. If we manage well to copy them or be inspired by them, the results might be harmonious shapes and useful, beautiful designs.

Who hasn’t walked along a beach collecting beautiful shells? We admire their shape and structure and marvel at the power of nature.

This colourful tangle is intricate galls made by a gall wasp for its larvae – and Seattle offered a Chihuly version!

The urge for good design is the same as the urge to go on living.

– Harry Bertoia

Be like a lotus. Let the beauty of your heart speak. Be grateful to the mud, water, air, and the light.

– Amit Ray

The structures beneath belongs to the very much used and loved ones in everyday life – originally designed by a spider. If you have walked into a spider web once, you know how incredibly strong it is.

Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.

– Albert Schweitzer

Wonderful, isn’t it? Mother Nature will always be our master; for beauty, for harmony, and for the durability of construction. Many great artists declare they are deeply influenced by Nature, and one of them is Gaudí – my favourite. In my book, I believe every artist owe his or her skills to the natural world.

Design is not for philosophy it’s for life.

– Issey Miyake

Thank you for a great challenge, Tina, and many thanks to those who joined us last week in response to Egidio’s “Rejected” challenge. Wonderful! Finally, we hope to see you next week when Beth will lead us once again on her Wandering Dawgs site. Until then, please stay safe, be kind and enjoy every new day. We look forward to seeing your responses, and remember to link to Tina’s post and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you.