garden
My grandparents were farmers in Massachusetts, and my mother was the best gardener ever. Although I never really assisted her in the garden, I absorbed her passion and her knowledge of everything that grows. So, when I grew up and purchased a home, my husband and I began revamping the entire landscape, inch by inch, until over 30 years passed, and we had planted the gardens featured above and below.
It’s hard to imagine that gardening is in my past now due to back and hand issues probably caused by endless hours bent over my plants. What remains are the sweet memories of caring for and nurturing our daughters while caring for and nurturing our plants and a career. My love of gardening and everything that grows is richer than ever, especially now that we have relocated to the urban setting. One of my greatest pleasures is the feeling I get from planting, nurturing, and sharing the pleasure through my visual communications.
Towards the end of my serious gardening days, when I began studying clay during night classes. I made ceramic sculptures for our garden, which are featured below. The clay work is ongoing, and I am now tending a city rooftop container garden. I still make outdoor sculptures upon request, so please contact me here if you are interested.
Scroll down to read my published essay from years ago titled “Gardening and Jazz,” and click here for up-to-the-moment images and captions on Instagram.
front garden
backyard fence
gardening & jazz
Over twenty years ago, I decided to change careers and turned to my favorite hobby, gardening. Over time, I began to press the flowers from my garden. I then created my first published book by blending my love of gardening with my professional background in graphic design and writing. Since that moment, my entire life has changed. So, in essence, my life change grew out of my garden!
Gardening has taught me continually to follow my dreams. I never thought my hobby could become my profession, but following my passion has enabled me to show the world my art.
My mother always grew a garden at our tiny home in Massachusetts. I vividly recall the rose-like scent of her freshly picked peonies and her carefully lined-up black tulips growing under my bedroom window in the spring. My father’s inspiration was music. He was an accomplished jazz musician. Gardening, like jazz, requires both improvisation and discipline.
The gardener improvises by modifying the landscape based on lighting, weather, texture, color, form, and balance, while the jazz musician improvises based on specific chords, scales, and rhythms. Just as a garden begins with a set plan that the gardener and the weather impact, the jam session originates with a melody modified by the musicians’ interplay and the audience's response.
My foundation of discipline and improvisation continues to inform my artistic creations. Flowers are my creative medium, and I plant seeds each spring to create a new crop of inspiration.
— article published in The Philadelphia Inquirer
Stone cairns inspired the forms. The clay surfaces are embellished with textures and colors and inscribed with the names of loved ones.
Clay has the perfect surface for personal expression.
Engineering is part of every structure that is made of clay.
Mother nature adds her magic.
It's transformative to harmonize with the plants.
Clay + play = joy
There is no limit to the choices.
Underglazes and glazes bring the textures to life.
After I could no longer spend long hours gardening, I took up clay. That saved my back, but not my hands. Oh well.
Fallen snow is my favorite part of displaying work outside.
Experimentation with balance.
The contrast between hard ceramics and soft plants adds dimension to a garden.
The plants inspire the studio work.
All the different angles are considered.
The plants and the sculptures are enhanced for that brief moment in time.
The freshly fallen snow falls perfectly to define the forms.
A playful bit of hand-painted camouflage on the gas meter planted in our front garden.