When we think about “fiber” what usually comes to mind is the essential ingredient of those useful items tucked away in our closets and drawers – shirts and pants, sheets and towels.

But in the fiber art world, there’s a different attitude towards the utilitarian materials we wear on our backs or use on our beds. Fiber artists magically transform bits of fabric, skeins of wool, sewing thread, and silk embroidery floss into imaginative works of art that command our attention.

Mixed media presents all sorts of opportunities for artists to express their ideas by incorporating a wide range of materials into their artwork. Typically, we think of mixed media as a technique that combines art materials, such as mixing acrylic paint with oil pastels, enhancing photographs with colored pencils, or creating collages from all sorts of paper.

Many artists have expanded beyond the traditional artistic medium to incorporate found and recycled objects or natural materials like eggshells, feathers, bark, and even soil to create unusual effects and textures in a piece.

Fine woodworking often evokes images of perfectly crafted tables, chairs, and dressers in the rich tones of woods like mahogany, curly maple, cherry, or black walnut. While serving a utilitarian purpose, these pieces are also significant works of art that enliven our homes.

But it isn’t always necessary to invest in a large piece of furniture to bring the combined value of wood’s function and beauty into our lives. Rendered in wood, what might have been a mundane, utilitarian object becomes its own little work of art.

Fine art photography keeps me in touch with the wonders of the world. It helps me re-engage to see landscapes, animals, objects, and people in a new light.

Fine art photography helps us discover something fresh in everyday things, like a crow sitting on a branch or the clouds passing overhead. It enables ephemeral, momentary sights – a crashing wave or a bolt of lightning – to become a permanent part of our lives. And it lets us experience different times and places, such as the watery world of penguins.

Today, many artists are not only striving to bring their creative ideas to life, but also working to make their art play a role in saving the earth. Artists who care about saving the earth express their concerns in a variety of ways, such as reusing existing materials or using only natural materials to bring fresh new ideas to life. For others, the environment is the subject itself. They create work that reminds us not only of the beauty of the land, ocean, and creatures around us, but also the fragility of the environment.

Here is a look at just a few of them.