Here's a stunning landscape I made earlier: The artist who mimics nature with fake fur, cotton wool and grout

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated: 06:12 EDT, 26 January 2010

These stunning images of rolling plains or snow-topped mountains may look like nature at its very best - but they are actually models made using faux fur, cotton wool and grout.

Artist Matthew Albanese sends hours painstakingly putting the models together and then brings them to life using clever photography.

Some of his designs measure less than 3ft in length but the remarkable effect is gained by the perspective from which the photo is taken.

This stunning picture, which looks like a picturesque shot of mountains and rolling grass at sunset, was actually created by artist Matthew Albanese using faux fur (for the fields), cotton wool (clouds) and sifted tile grout (mountains)

Mr Albanese makes some finishing touches to his incredible design. The effect is gained by the perspective from which the photo was taken

Mr Albanese, 26, started making the models in 2008 but has already sold seven of his pieces to collectors for more than £600 each.

He said: 'I was desperate for some sort of creative outlet because my job at the time as a visual merchandiser did not allow me to express my own ideas.

'One day in my studio which was adjacent to a kitchen I knocked over a tub of paprika.

Mr Albanese uses cotton wool, which is cleverly lit, to make his amazingly realistic clouds

'As I was cleaning up the mess I began to daydream and found I was playing with the paprika more than cleaning it up. I thought it was a great shade of red and it reminded me of Mars, an exotic place I could only dream of seeing in person.

'So I figured I would bring Mars to me. I went out and bought 12lbs of the pungent spice and created my first landscape - "Paprika Mars".

'My studio smelled of Paprika but ever since then I have been interested in finding new materials and pushing myself to find out through experimentation what they could represent in my models.'

 This image of a burning volcano was created using tile grout, cotton, phosphorous ink, and lit from within by 6 to 60 watt light bulbs (seen on the right)

Mr Albanese has created models of an erupting volcano, a starry sky lit up by the northern lights and a tornado tearing through a countryside scene.

One of his most challenging designs was of a living room on fire.

He had to test the perspective and lighting first without fire but then had only one chance to secure the shot he needed as the flames ripped through the model.

Another model, dubbed Sugarland, was created using sugar crystals grown by Mr Albanese over the course of a month.

Sugarland was made out of 20lbs of sugar, jelly and corn syrup, and used sugar crystals which were grown in his studio over the course of a month

Mr Albanese created this image of a swirling tornado using steel wool, cotton, ground parsley and moss

He added: 'It is extremely difficult and time consuming working in such detail. Each material has its own unique properties.

'For example, paprika and cinnamon and sanded tile grout are fine substances which compact under their own weight. It's a matter of letting the materials fall into place they way they will naturally which greatly enhanced the sense of detail.

'Unfortunately many of the materials don't last very long and are extremely sensitive to vibrations. This makes detailing them a very tedious task.

'I will use anything from spices like paprika or cinnamon, to steel wool, cotton, faux fur, canvas, glass, sugar, phosphorescent inks, light bulbs or dry ice to create atmospheric perspective.

This shot of snow-topped mountains uses a mixture of many different materials, tile grout, moss and even bottle brushes. The effect of the water was achieved using the top of a standard garden patio table

'I'm currently working on an image of a waterfall in which the rushing water will be made of a time exposure of salt. My staple material right now is tile grout because it's extremely workable dry or wet and comes in a variety of colors.'

Mr Albanese said he sells his models if he can but he said many perish during the photography or over time.

He added: "What collectors of my art fail to realise is that the models themselves look dramatically different in person. The image comes alive only when the camera is set at the precise point of viewing, giving it an artificially created sense of depth.'