These clients live in a condominium, perched high above the existing grade of the land on three sides. This does not necessarily limit their gardening-it just makes it more of a challenge. Their front walk is actually a catwalk, as their property begins to fall away the minute you step off the driveway.
The walk culminates in a covered porch; the front door is at right angles to the walk, and not visible until you are right up there. All of this makes the brick wall they see coming up the walk an important element in their landscape. We started with pots, as there is no ground to plant in; this part looks great. But I thought that wall needed what all walls seem to need-a sculpture, a painting, a mirror?
As my clients have quite a collection of art, they were receptive to the idea of a painting. Paintings that survive the weather need to be made of different materials that what an artist ordinarily would choose. I paint on extira board, which is used for making exterior signs. It does not absorb water, nor does it deteriorate outdoors. Porter Paint is a 100% acrylic paint; it is color fast, very tough and hard, and sheds any weather. As this paint is actually exterior house paint, and does not have the body of artist’s colors, I decided I would pour the painting. A beaker was the perfect tool.
I poured the painting over the course of about 4 hours. Some areas I wanted to blend colors. In other areas, I wanted colors to sit distinctly side by side. All in all, I poured one and a quarter gallons of paint-a big fluid situation, to say the least. I supported the extira board underneath on 8 quart cans of paint, so if the board sagged from the weight of the paint, it would be evenly supported.
Within 3 days, the surface of the paint had skinned over sufficiently that I could stand it up to take a look. While I was happy with the color and the shapes, I wanted more texture. The painting would be viewed from some distance coming up the walk. The near view, on the porch, would present a different look. I wanted to address both views.
Using a carpenter’s awl, I poked, scratched, lifted up and pushed around that partially dry paint. The areas of paint I lifted off the surface, I stuffed with pieces of bamboo. At this fairly wet stage, I needed to support the paint until it dried. Once the paint was thoroughly dry, I stuffed those shapes with preserved reindeer moss.
�
Though I thought all the existing elements on the porch were good, it seemed like something was missing. Treating this porch like a room made me think differently about furnishing it. I prefer not to think of this as a painting. It is a garden ornament, inspired by the picturesque landscapes in England of the 18th century. Those landscapes were composed to look like landscape paintings. This painting is a version of those English landscapes, with a much more modern point of view.
The close view I like. All the elements are different, but they look good together. The Italian terra cotta plaque is so much more important visually than when it had no company.
From further away, the painting pulls the colors and shapes of the distant landscape onto the porch. It was actually great fun to make, should you have a spot, and an inclination to paint.
An old French wire garden table and chairs provide seating. A pastel self- portrait I did 30 years ago shares the wall space with specimens of butterflies, bugs and moths. Objects of meaning to me – as in, the clay bust I made of Julius Caesar in the third grade, letters from my Mom while I was in college, a collection of early twentieth century American fish plates-all the quirky things that have held my interest or been significant to me at one time or another, have a home together. The souvenirs of my life. Though the word souvenir now brings to mind postcards or paperweights from some tourist attraction, that was not always the case. The word souvenir, translated literally from the French, means “the act of remembering”, or “that which serves as a reminder”. There are times in my garden when the season or the light or the rain is just right such that memories will come strongly to mind.
At the time of its making, only seven planets were known. Though it is a beautiful relic from a culture and time vastly different than mine, it is a reminder that one’s world is only as large as one sees to making it. 
The sun, represented with a human face sporting a wry, quizzical , perhaps world weary expression, is as much a fine piece of art as it is some unknown person’s memory and concept of the natural world.
Happily I came to my senses when the tower was done. More shells on the ceiling would just distract from the tower, right? So I mossed the ceiling; a little construction pressure can jump start the imagination. Gluing dried moss onto sheets of foam core that could be stapled to the plywood in big sheets-the construction of this part of the folly took long-but not nearly as long as that tower.
