Tuesday, February 9, 2016

magnolia leaves and garden beds


I had decided that I was going to get these magnolia leaves mounted and done last week and this. I've been bouncing ideas off several of my artist friends hoping that their thoughts and opinions would help me solidify my own vision of the piece. About the only decision I've made thus far is that I am not going to mount the three on a single back board but each piece will hang individually and the steel needs to be more rusty.

My trouble is, I can't decide between two options. Some days I like it with an additional piece of wood behind the metal and other days I like it like this, just the leaf on the metal and this is the original concept.


I'm rapidly reaching the point where I am tired of deliberating about it and am ready to be done with it. When that happens I usually fall back to my original position.

I've been given advice on several ways to get the steel rusty quickly but so far I'm just leaving it out in the open and spraying it with water now and then so that I can control just how much it rusts. Of course, now we are having dry windy spring days and it's not happening as fast as I would like it. And some twiddling needs to be done with the length and position of the sticks.

The other thing we almost have accomplished is getting the first raised garden bed actually done. The pieces have been put together for a 4' x 16' bed and I went and got the first of 3 yards of dirt needed to fill it. It ain't well built or pretty, but it's progress and we will have a garden again for the first time in almost two years.


the dirt yard


Fortunately, our grandson was out working on one of his trucks and when he saw us shoveling dirt, came over just after I took this picture and did it for us and faster than we would have done.






12 comments:

  1. pretty damn fine work all 'round ellen!!! i'd like to see the three leaves all on their own on thoroughly corroding metal . . .

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  2. Well, I have no opinion on the art. That is your world. Whatever you do will be amazing to me.
    But I do have opinions on gardens and that one is going to be wonderful!

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  3. You are so into this raised bed. You are going to have a delicious garden. I look forward to seeing it develop. Regarding the art you need to stop everything and listening to some music (that you really like) for a while or read from an author that calls to you--poetry? You need a tease!

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  4. Love the new garden, what a great idea.I'm going to a commercial garden meeting tonight to talk varieties. We will have close to 1/4 acre hopefully ready at the new place this spring.My daughter is already to plant indoors in 2 weeks for a few items.

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  5. Looks like cucumbers and maters to me.

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  6. That is a lot of work! Spring is a little over a month away and it looks like you have a head start on it.

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  7. The art is beautiful and you'll just know, unless you are a perfectionist, in which case it will always be changing. I saw the raised bed and thought, oh, they need to put cardboard down and then saw you did. That is exciting. I have gardened for over 30 years and am just about done. Ours is too big and can't hardly even till it anymore, but I'll always have a little something something growing. You will be able to get lots out of that garden.

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  8. I say follow your instincts on the artwork, which it sounds like you're doing anyway. The raised garden bed looks great! I hadn't realized there was such a thing as a "dirt yard" where one would acquire (buy, I assume) dirt?

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  9. How fortunate that your grandson was there to help.

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  10. fabulous raised bed! You are going to LOVE that! I might raise mine even higher so that I could just stroll though and pick up the goodies. Deer are quite the munchers here so would need a deer fence. Yours looks quite grand!!! and I especially love the work of art middle picture! Sexy!

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  11. I like the leaves as they are in the picture, but I'll probably like whatever you do. I wonder if we'll mess with a garden this year. Well, besides the tomatoes we always grow.

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  12. Yep -- the leaves don't need a backing board. I like them just the way they are: as individuals. That's going to be one fine raised bed, I'll say that. Around here, people always are using landscape timbers, but your metal surround looks more practical to me. I'm sure there are pros and cons I know nothing about, but in any event it will be fun to watch the progress.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.