Artist creates images of Welsh icons out of Welsh cakes, chocolate, coffee, and more ahead of St David’s Day
Ella Groves
Artist Nathan Wyburn has been turning mud, twigs and even Welsh cakes into portraits of some of Wales’ best-known faces ahead of St David’s Day.
He is creating images of ten Welsh icons during his artist residency at The National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Inspired by Dewi Sant’s message to value the small but meaningful things in life, The Little Things Festival at The National Botanic Garden of Wales will celebrate Welsh culture this St David’s Day.
The festival will feature an interactive trail, live music, Welsh art and hands-on workshops exploring performance, nature and craft.
Nathan will complete his final piece live during the festival, allowing visitors to watch his creative process unfold.
Nathan has already completed five of the ten portraits, which have drawn enthusiastic reactions on social media
In one post, Nathan revealed a portrait of Michael Sheen created from mud, twigs and leaves foraged from the garden.
One said: “That’s amazing Nathan! So organic – Michael would approve I’m sure!”
Nathan has also created an image of iconic Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert as part of his residency.
Instead of traditional paint and canvas, he used Tan-y-Castell Welsh cakes sourced from the garden’s gift shop.
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Other Welsh icons created so far by Nathan include equality practitioner & solicitor Uzo Iwobi, musician & BBC Radio Wales presenter Bronwen Lewis, and Olympian Emma Finucane MBE.
Discussing his artist residency and involvement in The Little Things Festival, Nathan said:“ Throughout February I’ve been artist-in-residence at the gardens. We invited people on Facebook to suggest local legends for me to create portraits of, many of which I’ve now completed.
“The plan was to produce ten pieces to be exhibited throughout March in the Oriole Gallery, starting on St David’s Day.
The idea behind the festival reflects my work — creating art from ‘little things’ found around the gardens, gift shop and café, transforming everyday materials into something extraordinary.”
You can see more of Nathans work on his Instagram and Facebook.
Find out more about The Little Things Festival on The National Botanic Garden of Wales website.
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