When Nature Steals The Show (12 Photos)

Nature is the collaborator here, not just the scenery.

In these 12 photos, nature is not just the background. Grass becomes pom-poms. A tree becomes hair. Stones become a face. Flowers, leaves, bushes, animals, and whole landscapes help finish the work. Some artists plan it. Others find the right crack, wall, riverbank, tree, plant, or open patch of ground and let the place do the rest.

More: When Street Art Meets Nature

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🌊 Kupala Motif over the Korchyk — By Konstantin Kachanovsky in Korets, Ukraine 🇺🇦

Konstantin Kachanovsky places this painted figure where the ruined bridge, river, and greenery already do a lot of work. Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported that the mural was created on the support of an old bridge over the Korchyk River; the local Dobrodii Korets initiative chose the spot partly because it was already a popular photo location and because the nearby riverbank is tied to a Kupala folk festival. The wall is only part of it.

💡 Nerd Fact: Kupala is tied to midsummer folk traditions in Eastern Europe, where water and fire rituals became part of the celebration. That makes the river location more than a pretty setting here: it quietly connects the bridge mural to an older seasonal ritual of cleansing, fertility, and renewal. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine explains the Kupalo festival.

More: Mural by Konstantin Kachanovsky in Ukraine

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🌱 “Pom Pom Girl” — By Sandrine Estrade Boulet

Sandrine Estrade Boulet uses almost nothing here. On her own site, the piece appears as Pom pom girl: two clumps of grass become pom-poms, and a crack in the pavement gets a cheerleader in mid-jump. She later used the image for a small lenticular postcard edition. The grass does the heavy lifting.

💡 Nerd Fact: The piece also exists as a lenticular postcard, which is a tiny optical-engineering joke: lenticular printing uses ridged plastic lenses so the image can change as the viewer moves, without a screen. Boulet lists the postcard in her bonus archive, and Smithsonian Exhibits explains the print method.

More: Street Art by Sandrine Boulet

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🌿 “Diosa de la Naturaleza / Goddess of Nature” — By SFHIR at HLA El Ángel in Málaga, Spain 🇪🇸

SFHIR’s own timelapse identifies this figure as Diosa de la Naturaleza at Hospital HLA El Ángel Málaga. The bushes become hair and volume, while the painted hand holds a green heart. HLA later described SFHIR’s 2019 project there as an 80-meter mural about medicine and Málaga culture, with sections including Diosa de la Naturaleza, Laboratorio de sueños, and El gran Pablo Picasso.

💡 Nerd Fact: SFHIR is the working name of Madrid-born artist Hugo Lomas. The Málaga hospital wall is also documented on Wikimedia Commons as a 2019 mural about medicine and Málaga culture, with the surroundings folded into the composition rather than treated as blank “outside” space. Wikimedia Commons records the mural details.

More: Street Art by SFHIR in Málaga, Spain

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🪨 “Refugee 1” — By Justin Bateman in Thailand 🇹🇭

Justin Bateman created this artwork from found stones and inspired by a photograph of Burmese refugees in Thailand, with permission from Christian Bobst. In our Justin Bateman collection, this image appears as Refugee 1. His wider pebble practice, described by Rock Products, is impermanent work made from locally found pebbles and stones. Each stone acts like a stubborn pixel: visible by itself, but part of the portrait from a few steps back.

💡 Nerd Fact: Pebble portraits work through sorting, not paint. Bateman builds light, shadow, and expression from the natural colors of the stones, so the material stays readable up close while the face resolves from a distance. That temporary quality fits this piece especially well: the image is about fragile belonging, and the stones can eventually return to the ground.

More: Stone Pebble Portraits by Justin Bateman

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🌼 Wildflower Wall — By KOHIN / Dan Toro in Laramie, Wyoming, USA 🇺🇸

KOHIN / Dan Toro covers the dark red wall with sunflowers, daisies, and purple blooms. A local Laramie photo post places the mural on the back of a medical clinic in the alley between Third and Fourth Streets, and notes Indian paintbrush, Wyoming’s state flower, among the blooms. It reads like a strip of wildflowers dropped onto the side of a building.

💡 Nerd Fact: Indian paintbrush became Wyoming’s official state flower in 1917. That makes the mural’s flower mix quietly local, not just decorative: one of the painted blooms doubles as a state symbol. State Symbols USA gives the adoption date.

More: Flower mural by KOHIN in Laramie

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🐅 Tiger at Somerset Middle School — By Cameron “CAMER1sf” Moberg in Modesto, California, USA 🇺🇸

In his own post, CAMER1sf says he painted this tiger for the young people at Somerset Middle School in Modesto. Flowers, leaves, and butterflies crowd around the open mouth, changing the school wall into a small jungle with teeth.

More: Nature Is Everything (12 Photos)

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🍃 Natural Bird Art — By Hannah Bullen-Ryner in the UK 🇬🇧

Hannah Bullen-Ryner works with petals, leaves, buds, twigs, and moss. Her own artist statement says she uses only locally found natural materials with no permanent fixings, so the bird sits on the ground as a temporary arrangement until wind, weather, or footsteps take over.

💡 Nerd Fact: Bullen-Ryner’s “no fixings” rule means the photograph is often the only durable version of the artwork. The object disappears back into the landscape, but the documentation becomes the edition people actually share. Her artist statement says she uses locally found natural materials with no permanent fixings.

More: Nature Is Everything (8 Photos)

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🐿️ “Red Squirrel” — By BORDALO II in Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪

BORDALO II’s own Big Trash Animals archive lists Red Squirrel as a 2017 Dublin work. The Irish Times reported that the giant squirrel was built from waste on the Workshop Gastro Pub wall at Tara Street and George’s Quay, highlighting the plight of Ireland’s red squirrel. Street Art Cities now marks it as removed, which makes the archived photos even more important.

💡 Nerd Fact: Ireland’s red squirrel story has changed since the mural went up. The species was classified as Least Concern in Ireland in 2019 after survey results showed it recorded in every county, helped in part by the return of pine martens in some areas. Vincent Wildlife Trust Ireland summarizes the status change.

More: The Dublin Red Squirrel by BORDALO II in Ireland

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🐭 “Nadine and the Chartreuse Respite” — By David Zinn

David Zinn’s official print page dates Nadine and the Chartreuse Respite to Ann Arbor, Michigan, on May 16, 2021, and says it was made with chalk, charcoal, and a well-situated Creeping Jenny. The real plant becomes Nadine’s tree; a bit of pavement, a few leaves, and the sidewalk gets a reading spot.

💡 Nerd Fact: “Chartreuse” is doing double duty: it names the yellow-green color of the plant canopy, but it also comes from a French liqueur made by Carthusian monks. Chartreuse’s official history traces the liqueur, while RHS describes golden creeping Jenny’s yellow-green foliage.

More: 9 Cute Spring Drawings by David Zinn

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🌳 “Nature Reclaims Its Rights” — By Brusk in Lyon, France 🇫🇷

Brusk makes the wall look like a city surface cracking open. In the artist’s own post for the work, the idea is framed as nature reclaiming its rights, with color emerging from the bitumen like a seed of hope. The real tree above the mural completes the idea. Grey asphalt gives way to color and growth.

💡 Nerd Fact: Lyon has a long public-wall tradition beyond contemporary street art: the city is known for large-scale painted walls and urban frescoes, with more than a hundred murals promoted in local tourism material. Brusk’s cracked-asphalt idea lands in a city already used to reading walls as public storytelling. Visit Lyon highlights the city’s mural culture.

More: Nature Reclaims Its Rights by Brusk in Lyon

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🌍 “World in Progress” — By Saype in Geneva, Switzerland 🇨🇭

Saype’s official page lists World in Progress as 6,000 square meters of biodegradable paint on grass in the heart of the Palais des Nations park in Geneva. UN Geneva described it as an eco-friendly ephemeral work for the United Nations’ 75th anniversary, painted with biodegradable materials. From above, the two children look as if they are sketching directly onto the earth.

💡 Nerd Fact: Saype’s grass paintings are made with biodegradable materials, and World in Progress covered 6,000 square meters at the UN in Geneva for the organization’s 75th anniversary. The scale matters: it is closer to a temporary landscape intervention than a normal wall piece. Saype lists the size, location, and material.

More: World in Progress by Saype in Geneva

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🦬 Watchful Nature — By Cukin Koszalin in Mirosławiec, Poland 🇵🇱

Cukin Koszalin covers the gable with a bison and a whole set of smaller animals. Polish Radio Koszalin reported that the mural was painted on a building along national road 10 and was meant to show the nature of Mirosławiec and the surrounding area. Cukin described the idea as a bison head: one side “normal,” the other covered with grass and animals that can be found nearby.

💡 Nerd Fact: The European bison is not just a “wild animal” symbol in Poland. After going extinct in the wild in the early 20th century, it was reintroduced through breeding programs, and Poland’s Białowieża Forest became one of its key stronghold areas. WWF summarizes the European bison recovery story.

More: Mural by Cukin Koszalin in Mirosławiec

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Which one is your favorite?