There are unmistakable signs of Gary Mottau’s artwork nestled throughout the rolling up-Island countryside on Abel’s Hill in Chilmark. They blend with their environment, just as he intended; that is his art, his ability to take a cue from nature and create exquisite sanctuaries from wood, stone and seed.

His artwork extends to other media as well; a collection of his wired drawings, which he describes as “three dimensional line drawings,” are on display at Carol Craven Gallery in Vineyard Haven.

“The reason I call them wired drawings is because they have kinetic energy, loads of it ... they also have a vitality of line which I find very, very interesting. It’s one of the things that made me fall in love with it as a medium,” he said.

He uses the seclusion of the Island winters to work on most of his wire artwork. “In the winter, it’s quiet, and that lends itself to more cerebral things and also things that are more time consuming,” he explained.

Another example? Cooking. “I do a lot of the cooking at home. I love to cook and it’s a creative outlet for me,” he said.

Still, his greatest passion clearly lies in his landscape work.

“I think of myself as a landscape designer, not a landscape architect. I never went to an office. I never wanted to be in an office,” he said.

He did study landscape architecture, securing a master’s degree in the field from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Most of his time these days is spent on landscaping projects for his company, Landwerk, the rest filled with other artistic exploits.

“Any kind of artwork is all fair game to me,” he said.

Abel’s Hill holds many samples of the land art that he has created. He waves to friends up and down the winding roads as he leads a tour through the locations he has touched upon. The first, belonging to Warren and Bobbie Kimber, began as thick woods behind the couple’s summer cottage. When they decided to build a new summer home across the lot, they enlisted Mr. Mottau to create a backyard garden retreat.

He began by clearing away the trees respectfully, a natural-looking clearing tucked inside the canopy of trees. In the span of two years, the garden was transformed. A stone wall, built by Mr. Mottau with stones found on-site, holds back a plot of flowers and grasses. Flowering lily pads float in a small manmade pond that rests in the middle of the yard, now inhabited by croaking frogs, goldfish and the occasional otter. A functioning waterfall trickles down one end. A short distance away, a bridge made of salvaged wood is nestled next to the new tree boundary.

“My job is to be an interpreter for [clients], to facilitate their lifestyle and have it be convenient for them,” he said. “Basically, listening to their needs suggests to me where we might go [with the project].”

The tour of Abel’s Hill turns up many examples of Mr. Mottau’s artistry. On one property, he built a bench of wood and stone surrounding the trunk of an old tree. On another, he built a curvilinear fence around an outdoor pool, planting tall ornamental grasses to create the impression of beach dunes. He laid the stone patio that surrounds the pool and found several decorative stone pieces to complement the setting.

“I designed this whole thing,” he explained. “I had envisioned this as connecting to the natural landscape. And that’s a really important thing to me, that it seem appropriate for its space. I mostly do up-Island gardens, and so my style tends to be more casual and I try to tread lightly and make it look as if this seems naturally to be here.”

Though he enjoys working on up-Island locations, Mr. Mottau accepts projects all around the Island and off Island as well. His draw towards artistic expression leaves little free time, but he considers his abundance of work a blessing.

“Like many Vineyarders, I have multiple jobs and don’t think anything of that. I’m happy to do them ... To my mind all of the artistic things I do and the design things I do are all integral and organic and part of my life. It’s kind of a life choice, really,” he said.