Plant Talk

Folk Art Sculpture - But Will The Tree Survive?

   I'll just start by admitting I was hiking up Queen Anne hill for a scoop of  the salted caramel ice cream at the new Molly Moon's on Galer Street, when I spotted this very cool wooden sculpture encasing the trunk of a maple sapling. It was obviously built with great care, layer upon wooden layer artistically askewed. There's even a little birdhouse...but will the tree live enshrouded in wood? Will it get enough water penetrating its roots, and will there be enough air circulation to keep the trunk healthy?

Maybe because wood breathes and absorbs water, the tree will be okay....I hope so, because I love seeing such creativity expressed on a parking strip, with a tree as centerpeice...

And the salted caramel was delicious, but the Vivace coffee ice cream was even more amazing...and then there's the Theo chocolate, let alone the watermelon sorbet...the new Molly Moon's is at 321 Galer atop Queen Anne.

 

The Feast of Which We Forget to Partake - The Subtle, Dazzling Textures All Around Us

Slow down, you move too fast....as Simon and Garfunkle sang in the 59th Street Bridge Song....We move through the world so quickly, thinking about who knows what, that we miss the dazzling and wonderous subtleties right in front of our noses.

At the pace we're usually buzzing about we scarcely notice a thing except at the grossest levels of reality, like color and shape. Not that these can't be lovely, but they tell such a little bit of the story. There are so many delights, mysteries, and beauties right in front of us if we'd only slow down to look. Artist Ginny Ruffner once called it the feast of which we neglect to partake...and this feast is our everyday life, the creatures, plants and objects all around us....

In these last few days of summer, I've been trying to take Simon and Garfunkle's advice to make the morning last by slowing down, and opening my eyes to the textures of everyday things....

Up close, tree bark is a gorgeous abstraction, a landscape, a microcosm of the world as well as a world unto itself...

Bridget's clean, soft coat, fresh from the bath

The intricate patterning of an agave

You'll never guess what this is...besides pull tabs, and the inspiration for this blog post....

The scales of a fish! At Sleeping Lady Resort on the shores of Icicle Creek near Leavenworth

Dunn Gardens ArtWalk on July 31st Features Work for the Garden by Local Artists

One of hands-down best garden parties of the year is coming up next Sunday, July 31, at the historic Dunn Gardens in north Seattle. Where better to showcase garden art, like this deer (left) by Georgia Gerber, than the woodland paths, ponds, and great lawn of this Olmsted designed garden? From mosaics to bronzes and glass, from affordable pieces to those we can only stand back and admire, the Dunn Gardens has assembled an impressive range of work by local artists, who will be at the event to meet, greet, and answer questions.

While you're there, be sure and go around back of the house to see the spectacular Curator's Garden begun by Doug Bayley years ago and finished off in vivid colors and sophisticated plants and art by the present curators Glenn Withey and Charles Price. This intimate, highly designed garden alone is worth the price of admission.

There's always such genuine enthusiasm and interesting people at this event, as well as music, wine and appetizers. And it's a chance to support both a treasured Northwest garden and local artists; this year's lineup includes Tony Angell, Georgia Gerber, Clare Dohna, Don Freeman, Jesse Kelly and Kim Merriman among many others; see examples of their work below.

The details: Sunday, July 31, 3-6 p.m., $30.00 per person (which goes to support the Dunn Gardens)

For more information, directions and reservations: Call (206) 362-0933 or go to the Dunn Gardens web page.

The Dunn Gardens are located at 13533 Northshire Rd NW in Seattle's Broadview neighborhood.

Glass by Jesse Kelly:

Mosaics by Clare Dohna

Painted box by Jared Nason

 

 

    

Ginny Ruffner's Glass Art on Steroids - "Urban Garden" Blooms This Month In Downtown Seattle

Glass artist Ginny Ruffner 's creativity will flower on the corner of 7th and Union, across from ACT Theatre, in the form of a giant flower pot filled with colorful bluebells and daisies. Every 15 minutes a huge watering can will tip to dowse the flowers, which will turn and open in response. The flowerpot's saucer edge will provide public seating, and you'll be able to peak inside the mostly metal and aluminum sculpture to watch how it works.

According to an article in the Puget Sound Business Journal, Ruffner has been working on the idea for seven years. The base is due to be installed June 21, and then the rest of the sculpture will be installed piece by giant piece. You can get an idea of the scale and primary color palette of the piece, commissioned by the Seattle Sheraton, from this photo of Gerald McGinness, principal at Fabrication Specialties Ltd.. He's holding Ruffner's drawing of "Urban Garden" - his company has spent more than a year creating the complicated sculpture.

Photo from Puget Sound Business Journal - see article cited above for more photos

 

 

Bits and Pieces - Plants, Mosaics, Collage, and Jello Molds

As I planted tiny starts of arugula, lettuces, begonias, zinnias, and kale over the weekend, I thought about how we compose our garden of bits and pieces. A rooted slip of lilac, a gnarled knob of dahlia bulb, a division of hosta or fragment of sedum all take root and grow into a garden over time. Which is probably why art cobbled together of bits and pieces looks so good out in the garden. Such pieceing together, no matter the medium, becomes art when the result is so much more than the sum of its parts.

Mosaics like the beautiful, sturdy paver (left) by Vashon artist Clare Dohna  have great affinity in the garden. Lately I've gotten into saving bits and pieces and fashioning them into collages, and it's the similarity to garden-making that I love. Instead of working with plants and earth, collaging is pulling together items meant for another purpose, composing fragments of color, words and images into something new. Yet the satisfaction of creating something that pleases your eye  is much like planting a garden. Both pursuits are joyful play, except you can do collage at night, and the work is less physically demanding....  Here's a collage I made for Museo Gallery's garden show in April:

I can't think of a better example of repurposing bits and pieces than the jello molds, scavenged from thrift shops and garage sales, that Diane and Dennis have used to decorate the old buildings at their Jello Mold flower farm in the Skagit Valley....

 

 

 

"Through the Garden Gate" Art Show Opening at Museo Gallery in Langley April 2nd

The place to be? Museo Gallery on First Street in Langley this Saturday night, April 2nd, from 5-7 p.m. for the opening party of this spring's not-to-be-missed art show for gardeners. Owner Sandra Jarvis has assembled a collection of art pieces both practical and beautiful, sure to appeal to anyone who loves gardens, flowers and nature...or anyone who needs one of local artist Bob Bowling's charming sheds, and who doesn't?

Come enjoy the work of more than twenty artists. Highlights are the botanical themed paintings of Lisa Snow Lady, sculptural garden works and other pieces celebrating the amazing gardens of the Pacific Northwest and Whidbey Island.

Come see the work of Bob Bowling, who crafts cravable little buildings like the ones below out of recycled materials:

And Lisa Snow Lady's graceful, colorful reverse paintings on glass - Lily White (left) and Garden Glow are both 14" by 11".....hope to see you at the opening party....

 

 

 

 

Vegetable & Flower Art - Vintage French Seed Packets

David and Jane Gratton are an English couple with an eye for vintage.The pair travel throughout the Burgundy region of France tracking down original items, like burlap grain sacks, linens, and collectable seed packet labels.  Their mail order business,  is run from their home in Gloucestershire.

The Grattons have hunted down, and are selling, seed packets emblazoned with heirloom French vegetables and colorful, old-fashioned flowers like cosmos, nasturtiums, pansies and poppies. You can almost smell the heliotrope, enjoy the crunch of the snowy cauliflower and vivid carrots in these lovely illustrations. Somehow, the artist(s) knew just how to exaggerate the best characteristics of whatever plant they were painting....The labels would make a great gift for any gardener, and they'd be beautiful framed and displayed in a garden room or conservatory, kitchen or office....a set of 24 assorted labels costs $12, and you can order them at the Gratton's new shopping site, www.simplyfrenchvintage.com

Here's a sample of the variety, colors and artisty of these labels - I'm still trying to figure out how best to frame them...

 

 

Art In The Garden - Readers Respond, and We Have a Contest Winner!

Thanks for all the fabulous responses about your favorite garden art - from rustic benches to trees crafted of rusty rebar, "Plant Talk" readers have an expanded concept of what art can mean in the garden....and you're such good writers! Here's an especially lovely excerpt from Chris:

  "St. Francis... is standing on my beautiful...also old, rock wall...partially hidden among the salal and rhodys that surround him....he is covered with a beautiful patina of tiny lichens and moss. When it snows he gets the most lovely white hat!".

So it was again hard to pick a winner...but since I believe that the best art is personal and heart-driven, Maria Carlos is the winner....an autographed copy of "Artists In Their Gardens" is in the mail...Here's Maria's comment in full:

"My favorite garden art brings love into the garden, honoring cherished people and memories. It's hard to choose just one piece. Today, December 12, in honor of her feast day, I'll tell you about the colorful tile of La Virgen de Guadalupe placed on a yellow-painted wooden Mexican folk-art chair, and planted among maroon daylilies and Cotinus 'Grace'. It honors my Chicano father, and my heart fills when I see this in the garden."

Congratulations, Maria....stay tuned for our last December contest; to be announced Monday, Dec. 20th..

Circle of Life

When I told a friend about my new piece of re-purposed garden art, she exclaimed "The circle of life in the garden!" What better place to celebrate the cyclical nature of life, seasonal change and renewal than out in the garden?

Perhaps the best thing about this four foot diameter rusty wheel, bought at a farm auction and mounted onto a stand by Langley artist John Alsip, is that I thinned out and cleaned up my bamboo hedge to make room for it. For the first time in two years, the canes of Fargesia robusta (a hardy, clumper from Boo-Shoot Gardens, a wholesaler near Anacortes) are revealed. Not only do the culms beat a lovely rhythm against the fence, but I never would have seen this thumbnail-sized frog hanging out on the fence before the bamboo thicket was thinned...I love the simple zen of the circle, almost like a shadow, and how it appears to magnify the bamboo canes contained within its orbit...

Driftwood Art??

A great joy of garden-making is just messing around with plants and art - if you can call it art.....unexpected objects and materials can be surprisingly effective combined with plants and set into nature. Everyone can be an artist in their own garden...you just have to be willing to experiment and have fun out there...

This is prologue to showing you a hunk of driftwood I dragged home  because I liked the look and shape of it. Then the very same afternoon this kind guy with a Santa-like beard, who lives out on East Harbor Road on Whidbey Island, gave me a flat of hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum) after friends and I  stopped to admire roadside piers he'd planted with the grandparents of the plants he offered to me. 

So of course I planted  the driftwood up with my new hens-and-chicks, settling them into soil tucked into pockets in the wood. I stuck the driftwood at the side of my driveway where the succulents will get plenty of heat and sunshine. I transplanted a few little carexes at its base to make it look more at home in the gravel. Hopefully I'll remember to water it occasionally.

Pieces like this that don't cost a dime are always one-of-a-kind, great fun,and especially satisfying because they just kind of evolve...