Treks encourage local artists to be inspired by nature

For photographer Darlene Spell, the most frightening natural disasters hold a hidden beauty. When everyone else runs for shelter, Spell pulls out her camera.

Spell finds beauty in everything in the natural world, and she uses her photography to show people the beauty that exists in things they take for granted.

Spell has shot nature photography for the past five years. It's a profession that takes her deep into forests of Southeast Missouri and across the United States. On June 25, she will use her experience to lead a group of artists into Illinois' Ferne Clyffe State Park on the first "Heartland Artist Trek."

The trek is a creative expedition that will bring together artists from multiple mediums, including photography, painting and poetry, and place them in the outdoors to gain inspiration from their natural surroundings to create works of art.

"I've had artists ask me if there was a group that went on monthly outings where artists of any medium could get together," Spell said. "I told them I didn't know of anything like that. Since that time I realized it would be fun to network with other artists and I decided to go ahead and start Heartland Art Treks."

Spell said she plans to make the treks a monthly event. The artists will set out early in the morning for the daylong expeditions and leave their locations at sunset. Treks are free and open to artists and non-artists, but participants will have to provide their own meals, art supplies, water and transportation.

The groups will travel to sites within a two-hour radius of Cape Girardeau and visit a five-state region including Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Spell's love affair with nature began as a child when she started camping with her parents. Her family traveled extensively throughout the region and Spell said she learned to take in her surroundings through those experiences.

"I've always loved nature and the outdoors," she said. "I started camping when I was 6-months-old. My mom and dad, it's always been a part of their lives. We camped everywhere from Kentucky to Missouri and Illinois. If there was a camping area, we camped it. Then we started going on longer trips cross country, so there's always been a love of nature instilled in me by my parents."

In addition to a love of nature, photography runs in the family. Many of her relatives enjoy amateur photography, and Spell said upon receiving her first camera at the age of 9 she was hooked.

Her hobby turned into a career, and eventually her two loves mixed when she began shooting nature photography in Southeast Missouri five years ago.

Randy Hays, an artist who sits on the board of directors of the Southeast Missouri Arts Council, signed up to accompany Spell on the first trek. He said he looks forward to the opportunity to work with fellow artists in a natural setting.

"Darlene is doing this for artists of all different abilities, and it was a great idea on her part," Hays said.

Spell said she hopes both artists and non-artists will participate in the upcoming trek, and her main goal is to show everyone the beauty that exists so close to home.

"I just want to bring awareness to people that there is so much beauty all around us. Even in your own back yard," Spell said. "And that's really what I want to do with my photography and these treks, is make people aware of the beauty in the things they take for granted."

For more information about "Heartland Art Treks" contact Darlene Spell at heartlandarttreks@yahoo.com or call 573-778-5781. You can also visit Heartland Art Treks on Facebook or visit www.darlenespell.com.

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