We have a HUGE collection of elephant ornaments. Oh, my, what dust collectors, you might say. Oh pooh, dust is not important. I don’t care about dust that much. I care about having something to rest my gaze on that makes me appreciate beauty.
OK, once in while I clean them all off, washing them carefully, enjoying the feel of them under my fingertips, with their smooth humps along their backs and their lovely curving trunks.
And sometimes, as we rush past them with arms full of groceries, shucking off our shoes at the door, we might not notice them at all. But they are waiting for us, in their slow procession as they make their way, in a contented and yet dignified fashion, around the shelf in our entry . They are patient, they can wait for us to appreciate them.
I’ve never counted how many are in our herd. I’ve got them grouped in little clans or families. The Indian elephants, proud in their lush decoration. The silly and fun grouped together for a giggle. The browns and the blacks. The ones in glazed ceramic, (of course we have a pink elephant), the stone carved ones.
Ostensibly they are all Bill’s collection. The first elephant, the little stone one on the right below, was bought, by me, from a lady in our old Calgary neighbourhood. Her basement was perpetually set up for a monthly garage sail. The myriad of stock came from elderly people who had moved into seniors residences. It was a little service she did for them to sell their pieces of extraneous possessions that they no longer had room for. This little elephant, of carved stone, was marked in neat handwriting on a tag, only as “very old”, with a price of $6. The large one in light wood behind it, with the little parcel/pillow on it’s back is another fave.
Since then we have both collected and added to our burgeoning collection. None is expensive, all are second hand. You may think that some are sort of sorry looking with their tusks missing, or a little gouge here or there. But it doesn’t matter much to us. Bill may replace some missing tusks with toothpicks now and then, but generally, we just enjoy them for what they are, little sculptures.
Each sculpture has been made, I always think, patiently and lovingly by an unknown artist, giving us the gift of his or her interpretation of this beautiful and graceful animal. And maybe a lot were made for the tourist trade but each is hand done, hand carved by someone on a hot and dusty day somewhere far away. Each one a little different from the last, each one with just a bit of the artist caught in its form or painted glaze. And I am grateful for their patient talent and feel just a bit guilty at the low price I have paid for their art.
Many of our elephants were gifts. Maybe for Father’s Day, or Christmas or a birthday, hardly any opportunity goes by to without adding another elephant to this very accommodating herd.
And as your eye has followed our little herd as it makes its way, you may have noticed a sort of confused looking giraffe that found itself in the wrong group. Or maybe you saw the tiniest little pig along for the trek. I don’t know why, they just seemed to want to be in the group too. The elephants didn’t seem to mind.
Oh and as for that silly superstition that elephants trunks must be up for good luck… well, all those silly things are made up by someone. No basis in fact ( or fiction). So I choose to make up my own superstitions (or stupid-stitions as I like to say) and have decreed that all elephants are lucky, no matter which way their trunks are waving.
Hope you enjoy them as much as we do…
Tags: a slow procession of elephant ornaments, cubist elephant, Indian elephants, luck of elephants, pink elephant
It’s been one of those summers when we just haven’t done as much gardening as we’d like. One thing or another kept us from it. Things like me getting a rotator cuff strain from pulling out an exceptionally tough weed. That took a lot of ice and ibuprofen to get right. Or sinusitis that just left me exhausted and sore from all the coughing. So Bill ended up doing most of it and he didn’t have time for more than watering and a bit of compost control. Then there were the craft shows to do, and get ready for, more hours at jobs, well the list went on and on and on….
And in the meantime, the garden just kept on without us. Today I ventured out with my camera to see how it’s doing. And you know, it’s looking ok, well, kinda weedy and wild, but OK. And tall.
Our lovely cardoon is towering and blooming.
But the Fennel is just as high. I’m 5 foot 4 inches and I’m looking up. I had to bend the stalk down a bit just to take the header photo of that gorgeous cardoon bloom.
Here they are together, all as tall as a elephant’s eye. And what is that plant with the blue flowers on the right, that is as tall as the cardoon?
Well, here’s a close up. Can you guess? Would you believe it’s Romaine lettuce in flower? Now that didn’t happen from our neglect of the garden. We let the lettuce grow tall and flower every year. It blooms all summer and the bees just love it. No one ever believes it could actually be Romaine lettuce.
The grapes vines on the arbour are a bit wild and could probably benefit from a bit of pruning, but I like that look.
The squash plant is growing and looking happy. Please don’t ask what kind it is. We bought the plant at the Moss Street Market, and all I remember is that it’s an heirloom variety. I’m sure the tags are somewhere in the garden. But I’m also sure we’ll enjoy it later, no matter what its name. Just love those spiral tendrils.
Just caught the Gooseneck Loosestrife at its best today.
But the beautiful blue Hydrangea is almost done.
I leave you with this Honeysuckle bloom on our new vine. Poor thing spent ages in the pot until Bill managed to find a bit of time one afternoon to create a place for it and it rewarded us with some lovely blooms.
Hopefully, now that things are quieting down a bit, we’ll be able to spend a few hours catching up with the gardening again. Although I must admit, it seems to have done all right with out us.
Tags: Cardoon Bloom, Fennel, Gooseneck Loosestrife, Honeysuckle vine, how the garden went on without us, Hydrangea, Romaine Lettuce in flower
Way back in May I gave you a little glimpse or Installment #1 of the zany little plot of paradise that is our friend Hart’s garden. In May, the focus was on the Rhodos with just a little dollop of mosaics. But today, be prepared for a peak at how an artist “decorates” his garden.
Now the three of us have spent years at Art college and I suppose what art college teaches you most is to see possibilities in even the humblest of things. To see beauty in texture and form. To create compositions and focal points, and in Hart’s case, to create what I like to call “arrangements”. In fact, my nickname for him is the “Lone Arranger”.
Take for instance his arrangement of rust in a tucked away spot on one of the many paths in his garden. Here the garden wall is decorated with a collection of muffin tins left to rust, creating a grid like texture that sets off the mosaic bench in iron oxide colors, that even has a suitably colored ceramic fish as part of it’s surface.
As your eyes take that in you are led to a rusty cowboy figure, a rusting feathered heart ( a garage-sale-find-birthday-gift from us) and a birdhouse decorated with ….. yes that really is a pair of pears.
And rounding out this rusty feast for the eyes is a rusting bedstead curling through the greenery. I just love this spot.
Carrying on with this tour, we come upon Rodin’s The Thinker, lost in thought, of course. The Gazing Ball behind him could represent the world, maybe the focus of his thoughts. But note the arrangement, the way the colors of the ferns and Japanese Maple complete the scene Hart has created.
Next, near another wall is the Half Man. I noticed when I was getting the photos ready that I’d managed to inadvertently create the proverbial “fig leaf” with cedar. Funny story here, a neighbour could see this figure from her window and phoned to say it freaked her out first thing in the morning. Hart obligingly moved it for her.
On my way to another part of the garden, Mojo, one of the cats, had to get cozy with my camera. He’s very affectionate.
Other people on a pebbled beach see pebbles. Hart sees heart shaped rocks. Here a collection is featured, set off by rust and greenery.
Another mosaic bench set in the front entry to the courtyard, matches the lushness of it’s surroundings of ferns.
Even a gateway is not left unadorned. Here the little mosaic stepping stones create a counterpoint to the bars of the gate.
The garden has many gathering spots, places to party or to relax. For this spot the beaded curtains and flags are enticing, pulling you in, to find out what is beyond or behind them.
And beyond is another example of recycling and rust. The round mirror, already giving way to nature, garlanded in tacky plastic beads becomes elegant.
A wooden mirror reflects not only the view but becomes the subject of an arrangement itself.
And the pink flamingo? Well, that was another garage sale find of ours, that I painted up and we gave Hart on another birthday. Well, in a garden full of whimsey, I was sure the flamingo would feel right at home.
So I hope you’ve enjoyed Installment # 2 of Hart’s garden. I know we never tire of it. There is still more to see, but we’ll save that for another day.
the inspiration
I’d had this fantastic plate with the bridges of London all around the rim for ages. I’d had a few ideas for it but nothing that really inspired me into action. Nevertheless, I’d broken up the pieces and kept them together with masking tape for years. They were waiting for me, dust covered and dirty, on my studio shelf. And no, I don’t dust my studio much, there are just too many dishes and ornaments and I’d never get anything else done. Priorities you know.
the ingredients
For some odd reason I’d always thought of the bridges with Budgies or Budgerigars as the Brits called them. For me they went to together. I just happened to also have a “loverly” set of salt and pepper shaker blue budgies. And I also just happened to have a plate covered in, what else, English Ivy. Ah the joys of having lots of used plates and ornaments to recycle and transform into something fun.
And that “something fun” was a new mirror for over the sink, so I’d have something entertaining to look at while doing dishes. There are always so many dishes to wash aren’t there? And me, I’ve got a low boredom threshold.
But what shape could this take? What would tie it all together? Finally, inspiration struck. An English Mantel clock! Or at least the shape of one….yes that would work. And with that, all the other questions were answered. I needed another plate for the “shoulders”, easy to find, waiting there all along in my studio stash. And the final touch? Well, what are the Brits famous for? Their gardens of course! So out came the porcelain flowers. You know, those little bouquets your mum collected.
the finished piece
It took a while, but finally all the pieces were in place. Well, almost, the budgie perches needed mosaic and the grouting needed doing.
The only thing left to do was glue on the budgies and the flowers. With a bit of careful chiseling I freed some flowers and leaves from their little porcelain pots and glued them into place.
Now, I’ve got the Bridges and Budgerigars of London over my sink, surrounding a mirror that reflects the stained glass window we bought years ago, also from England. And I must say, I rather like it.
Tags: Bugerigars and Budgies, English Ivy, pique assiette mosaics, Porcelain flower bouquets, The bridges of London plate rim
“Meet Olivia”
Well, that’s what my wonderful and oh so generous friend, Hart, said when he brought me this lovely Clivia. Named Olivia, to help me remember what the name of the plant was, of course. But I do like the name, so from now on….. she will be Olivia.
Hart had given me part of the mother plant, a gorgeous plant that had a permanent spot just inside his patio doors. She had grown too big and he’d promised me that one day, when he split it and repotted, I would get a bit. So a little while ago, I got my promised gift. I noticed right away that there were buds coming, which inspired me to start my little photo progression. Now it turns out, that poor Hart has given me the part of the plant with all the blooms! So Hart, just so you don’t miss out entirely, Olivia sends her love and her blooms to you. Thank you….I do love her.
Last year, at this time, we had the Accidental Poppy Garden in the front of the house. It had happened because Bill had gone out one day in the winter and sprinkled a mixture of poppy seeds all over the place. By June we had such a delightful mix of poppies that we were in awe.
This year we waited to see if the poppies would re-seed themselves as they’d done in the back garden for years. But instead we got a whole new surprise garden. This garden was not the result of planning or work, but more of a wait and see garden. In fact, other than a bit of weeding of the most obvious weeds, in other words one’s that we knew for sure were weeds, we did very little. We just went out and looked to see what would come up.
For someone who is trying hard to learn not to be controlling, to have a much less judgmental attitude, to go with the flow, this garden has become one of my best lessons.
This was the year for Foxgloves. They are biennial and bloom every second year. I’ve never planted them, they must be from the old garden, an inheritance from the last person who grew here before we moved in. Or maybe they are dormant in our compost heap and come up where ever we spread new compost.
We have snapdragons, and have been enjoying the Bumble bees who crawl right inside each blossom. And there is a new plant, a volunteer, we had to do a bit of research to find out what it was, since we’d never planted it ourselves. It’s called Purple Toadflax, and is considered a weed by most but we left it, since it was tall and worked well with the Foxgloves that had spread themselves everywhere. Also giving some colorful zing with their bright yellow-orange blooms were the California Poppies. Now we do have a packet of seeds but it’s never been opened. These girls are volunteers all over our garden and are Bill’s absolute favourite.
On the way to one of the gates leading to the back garden we have the California Lilac in full bloom. Oh we know it really needs a pruning and shaping, and maybe the Snow on the Mountain is getting away from us and a few things are coming up again unplanned, but you know it looks kind of exuberant and wild and quite over the top. We kinda like it, even though you can barely get through to the gate.
So far it’s been a rather nice succession of things coming up and going to seed. Right now the Fried Egg or Poached Egg as the British gardeners prefer to call them, are going to seed. We’ve never had so many! The next phase I think, will be the lavender now almost ready to bloom and there are signs that the Artemesia has gone rampant. Who knows what will surprise us next. But we’re enjoying it.
I suppose I was never cut out to be a tidy, planned gardener. After all, as artists, Bill and I both tend to go for the expressive and intuitive arts like abstraction and mosaics and collage. And anyway, maybe we’ve somehow discovered that low maintenance, no work garden that all the books keep promising. It may not be for everyone and I certainly don’t think it should be, but we’re enjoying this “Surprise Me” way of gardening and trying to learn from it.
Today is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on May Dreams Garden and I think I’ll enter this post. Please check it out and see what’s blooming in other gardens today. It’s always enjoyable.
Tags: Accidental Poppy Garden, California Poppies, Foxgloves, maintenance free garden?, Snapdragons, surprise garden, Toad Flax
Another Saturday morning of garage sailing has come and gone. We had a good morning, found a few things that will be useful for very little money. Things like a new wicker hamper for the bathroom, never used for $2. And some shelving perfect for drying and curing sculpture in the sculpture studio for just $4. We love to find bargains but we’re really out to enjoy ourselves too. As we drive around looking for next sale, enjoying the sun, glimpsing lovely front gardens, we enjoy listening to whatever tape we’ve found at some garage sale. Today we sang along with Cat Stevens and songs of the “Tea for the Tillerman”album.
Sometimes you come across things that are a bit different, not always necessarily useful and you get a bit of history to go with your purchases.
Like the post cards we bought from a fellow with a couple of tables set up on the street corner in James Bay. The seller, an older man, told us they had been his late sister’s cards, who had traveled a lot in her day and collected post cards of the places she’d been or just whatever caught her fancy.
The odd ones at the top of today’s post, were a happy find, which we may use in a collage or even send to a friend for fun.
Or like the post cards of these colorful sunsets from Firenze in Italy..
Gazing over the seller’s shoulders we noticed this very bountiful community garden.
But what really drew our attention was this little softly-rounded straw bale shed topped with a roof garden sprouting grasses and succulents. We wandered over to admire it and the roses…
Which brings me indirectly to my next photos. But first let me tell you about why I have been inspired to present the following photos as diptychs.
For the past many months, each week I have been waiting for the next installment of blog from Australia. Louise, a very talented photographer features another suburb in a colorful photo journal of the over 600 suburbs of Sydney. Her goal is to present 52 suburbs. What makes her posts so special? Why do so many followers check every week for her latest photo journals? Well, I’d say it is her unique way of presenting photos in pairs, sometimes connected by color, sometimes by content or sometimes by similarities in curve or line. Go and see it, spend a little time, you don’t have to know Sydney to appreciate her amazing photos. I’d hoped to introduce Louise’s blog by doing a little photo journal of my own neighbourhood. But I found what Louise does much more difficult than it looks. So instead I’ve just taken a page from her diptychs and tried to emulate what she does.
So these next photos displays are my little tribute to Louise’s blog. My attempt at making those connections.
Like the Paint by Numbers of roses done by the next sellers Mom, now in her 80’s. And the roses in the community garden.
Or the colors in a pair of flamingos in a porch window (ok they do look a bit amourous) and the colors of a box of fishing lures at another sale.
Which brings me to my last little pairing of today’s bounty - an old kettle, soon to be a home for a trailing plant, some heirloom squash plants found at the Moss Street Market, the old muffin tin which I hope to make into planters for Hen and Chicks. But then I decided to clean up that old kettle, and somehow it’s just a bit too brilliant now. But I’ll leave it outside, and soon it’ll lose it’s shine and fit in nicely with the old grate in the herb garden.
Tags: Frankfurt 1937 and 1945, Garage Sailing, old post cards, Paint by number roses, travel post cards
Last weekend we went to visit our good friend Hart, not just for the great company but also to stroll his garden just as it was alight with the blooms of over 40 Rhododendrons. Now, to me, not too many flowers are as exotic as Rhodos. And these blooms were hot! Like chorus girls on stage, they were aglow in every color, looking luscious. And along with the fact that Hart’s garden also boasts a lot of creative exuberance it just seemed right to save this post for today and show it off on Noel’s ” The Hot, the Loud and the Proud meme.
But first a little background. Hart has been a good friend for far more years than we’d all like to admit. Let’s just say he and Bill went to art college together way back in the 60’s. And Art college only brought out even more of Hart’s creativity and sense of fun which is well expressed in his garden. I have suggested on more than one occasion that he start a blog and show off his zany little plot of paradise but he refuses. So, with his permission, I intend to show it off for him. Consider this installment #1.
First let’s discuss the exotic. As I said earlier, Hart’s garden boasts more than 40 varieties of Rhododendrons. What’s to follow is just a little taste of what’s there. I can’t tell you the names or the exact title of each one. I’m not a master gardener, just an artist who revels in color.
But we can’t leave the garden without showing you some of the other things that make his garden so unique and fun. This little vignette in the succulent garden, is an example of his delightful little arrangements.
Next is just a tiny example of his creativity expressed in mosaics. Now I will admit that I did introduce him to mosaics. I won’t say I taught him. No, no, all I did was show him how I break dishes and how to glue them down and then I just stood back and let his amazing creativity and color sensibility go to town. He ended up teaching me a lot. This is just one of the stones decorated with tile in his garden and is a fave of mine.
And this is just one of the tables on the patio that he applied mosaic to. But in Hart’s hands the colors just work so well. I could just sit at this table and admire it for ages. If you ‘d like to see more of his mosaics, check out our Mosaic Gallery where Hart is our guest artist. I promise that one day this summer, I’m sure I’ll be giving you another peek at his hot and amazing garden.
Tags: mosaic patio table, mosaic stone, Rhododendrons in bloom, The Hot the Loud the Proud
The Green Man is often a key figure in the May Day celebrations. Ok I know, it’s a bit late in the month for May Day celebrations, but apparently there are still some Green Man celebrations happening somewhere, usually in Britain, but, unfortunately, not here in Victoria.
We, that is Bill, Eric and I, have a bit of soft spot for the Green Man. He figures in some of the sculptures that we create here at Summer House Studio. Eric, our son, has long had a fascination with these mythical characters, and has created his own versions. We have a Grape Satyr Green Man with his connection to wine and pleasure.
We even have a Beethoven version whose hair and eyebrows have become leaves.
The other day, as I was surfing sites looking for the Green Man and his association with May, I came across a couple of interesting sites. One site I liked was one in East Anglia in Britain, where someone has gone to the trouble to find images of the Green Man in churches in the area. I’d always thought that the Green Man was pagan but it seems it’s actually been part of the decor of Christian churches for centuries . There are Green Man images tucked into the decoration on pews, on the columns and even on the pulpits. The Green Man has long been, since the Middle Ages, a symbol of our connection to nature and for creativity. One day I’ll have to do a proper little researched post on this very interesting archetypal creature.
It was when I was checking out Green Man festivals that I noticed an interesting phenomenon. All of these festivals were about todays concerns about the environment. Most were offering lots of ideas about gardens, recycling, environmental awareness and just getting back in touch with nature. The image of the Green Man was becoming a contemporary symbol inspiring us to reunite with nature. Something that is quite timely when you think of ecological disasters and so many other threats to the environment all over the world.
In fact, in light these ideas, I’m seeing our own Green Man sculpture in a new way. In our sculpture, he has his eyes turned toward something that is obviously frightening. Did Eric inadvertently capture his expression just as he is seeing his domain threatened by ecological destruction?
May also has another meaning for me besides May Day and the beginnings of Spring. It is also a year ago that I started this blog. My first post was April 31st, 2009. But to me, May is the anniversary month. When I first started this blog I was in a quandary since I’d read that a blog can only have one theme. You can read about my angst in the “about me” post. I worried about how I, definitely not a “one theme kinda girl”, would manage a blog. After much thought I decided to scrap the one Theme idea, and try to weave together much more into my posts. There would be art, gardening, sculpture and mosaics, garage sales and recycling. Now, a year later, I see that there has been an overriding theme, that was of using art and lifestyle choices as a way of considering environmental awareness.
This new meaning for the Green Man, as a reminder of our need to unite with nature, though, brings it all together for me. The first sculpture that Eric created for Summer House and cast in stone was the Oak Green Man. As a believer in synchronicity and serendipity, it’s kind of nice that this old archetypal figure, the Green Man, now also has a more contemporary meaning. And it’s a meaning that fits in nicely with what I’ve been posting about, that is creativity, art and also the environment.
Tags: environmental awareness, Green Man, Green Man in East Anglia, new meanings for the Green Man
I’ve always been into recycling and have been creating my mosaics with old dishes and ornaments for years. So now more than ever, I like to discover other recyclers who are into creating art from recycled materials. And this morning while going through a Cloth Paper Scissors mag I found an artist I can really relate to.
So I got on the e-mail and sent him a request….could I feature his work on my blog and share his website? Well, Leo replied promptly, must have been taking a break from his sculpting and checking his mail. He said go ahead, use whatever shots you want. So without further ado, I’ll let you in on an artist who really knows his junk.
If you find the March/April 2010 issue of the mag, you’ll find a great interview by Cate Coulacos Prato who tells a bit about Leo’s background and how he’d started creating things with junk in the 70’s and some more photos of just a very few of the 4000 sculptures he has created.
But for now, here are a few photos to wet your appetite. Make sure to go to Leo’s website and don’t miss the 3D Duck! Prepare to take a bit of time, get a cup of tea or coffee and spend a while enjoying Leo’s found object artworks.
Tags: Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine, creating art from recycled materials, Found art sculpture, Leo Sewell
