Environmental artist, interior and landscape designer, Sandra Adams, works at the intersection where nature and human environments meet.

Sandra founded The Nature of Things to explore the idea that we and everything we come in contact with are more than one thing. The lens in which we view the world and ourselves has form but can be shaped and reimagined; it can take on new meaning and expressed when we connect with nature. At this point, Sandra believes, we tap into our creative process and the full expression of who we are comes alive. She wants you to recognize that we all have a bit of artist in us. It is asking to be expressed. She wants to share her passion for natural beauty and explore with you what might be revealed in doing so. Lets get curious and playful together.

The Nature of Things Design is the vessel created for combining her diverse interest in and expressed experience with the natural world. Sandra’s long-standing work as a practicing artist informs her design process, which is intuitive; one she calls her second nature. The materials and forms she seeks out when curating and designing spaces, be they inside or out, provides us with an opportunity to enhance our connections to nature and the way we live, creating “feel good” energy.

How she works.

Sandra’s work is generative and engaging. She is collaborative by nature. Her desire is to share her stories and experiences through her work but they are only enhanced when learning yours. Because Sandra believes that the essence of nature can be found in all things, she continually looks for ways to use her knowledge to enhance people‘s relationship with and experience of the natural world—to receive input from it, as well as be influenced by it. Patterns, textures and colors offered by nature inspire Sandra. Her multidimensional approach to working with her many mediums is fluid and flexible. This allows her to experiment with her compositions, borrowing from her diverse experience with and knowledge of materials and finishes.

Art comes in all forms.

Sandra believes true beauty possess depth as well as soul. So is the case with her art. Utilizing an ancient technique known as felting as her guide, she borrows from traditional methods dating back to antiquity to create contemporary art forms and solutions. She applies what she has learned thru her extensive studio work and, in the reimagination process, crosses over to other mediums such as paper-making, metalsmithing, ink, wax, thread on paper, etc., to explore new art forms. The fluidity and flexibility of her design process provides her unending opportunities to manipulate her materials and, in turn, create intricate patterns that lie deep within her textiles and other material forms. She refers to this as alchemy.

Whether creating traditional or contemporary art pieces, even art to wear, Sandra produces her materials by hand. For example, she creates the felt or paper used in her art by manipulating fibers through the use of moisture, heat and friction. Her hands serve as her tools, her intuition as her guide. When dying natural fibers and materials, Sandra literally takes her cues from nature. By combining unspun wool, silk, plant fibers and found organic plant materials, to name a few, she creates warm and enticing art that make the connection to the natural world.

Sandra hopes her creations frees the viewer from any preconceptions of what people consider art—for in the constructing and building of her art, her imagination, play and spontaneity with raw materials offer just as central a role as they do in any other art form.

Sandra travels extensively in this country and abroad to hone her art form and from time to time teaches. She currently resides in the Chicago area with her husband John and her dog, Sampson. She’d love to meet you so drop her a note.