Imagine leaves, branches, moss, and flowers hanging from trees, all blown up hundreds of times their normal size. North Carolina artist Steven Durland creates high-resolution photographs of natural elements like leaves or bark that he blows up and prints on canvas up to six-feet across. Because of the high quality of the photographs, the blown up images allow the viewer to see the minute details of the natural findings in crystal clarity. His original art gallery studio, a yurt located in his forest property called Bourbon, Dogs and Art, had already been a tourist attraction but it was becoming too small of a space for Durland to display his work. The solution? In 2011 Durland created a campaign on the idea financing website Kickstarter to print his photographs on 48" X 66" weatherproof banners and to be hung throughout his property where the photograph was taken.

Here is an example of one of his pieces taken from kickstarter.com

For instance, if he took a picture of a green leaf he would hang that picture exactly where he found the leaf. This created a really cool effect as the seasons changed and the photographs did not. A picture of a collection of red and brown leaves stood out starkly in the winter snow but was almost camouflaged in the fall. Check out this video he posted on Kickstarter:

Durland reached his funding goal in about a month and his banners are still on display on his property. As banner-makers ourselves we loved discovering this creative and beautiful way to display art. Know of any other creative or unique uses for banners? Leave a comment below and tell us all about it!