Artist uses nature as his canvas

Tim Pugh takes nature's gifts and eco detritus to create 'magic' sculptures. Raphael Henry reports

- Raphael Henry reports

AN ENVIRONMENTAL artist who uses driftwood, pebbles and abandoned toys to make temporary artworks and sculptures in nature has said they disappear like "magic dust" with the tide.

Tim Pugh, 59, from Flintshire, works on beaches and in woodlands to create sculptures from whatever materials he finds that day, including old toys, miners' tags and washed-up army parachutes.

He won the Adult Artistic award at the World Rock Stacking Championships in 2019 and 2020 and recently came second in the Adult Finalist category at the European Stone Stacking Championships.

The full-time environmental artist's works are designed to "leave a light touch on the land", washing away and leaving no trace of their existence.

Some of his favourites depict vibrant flowers made from mussel shells, intricately balanced stone towers, and sea creatures made of discarded plastic.

"I like the transience of it - I think that's the magical thing about it," Tim said.

"There's a lot of people making stone stacks now, and a lot of people say they despoil the landscape.

"It's not for me to antagonise people, but to show that my work really will fall down and totally disappear within a matter of days."

Tim became interested in land art while studying at Edinburgh College of Art.

His lecturers picked up on his interest in the environment and started taking him to nearby beaches to "look at the impact of waves on clay and things like that".

After graduating, he moved back to north Wales and started working in woods and parks as a land artist.

Tim explained: "I'm one of those people who said, 'I'm going to be an artist and nothing else'.