Gardens as art

shaping and enclosing significant living collections

uncommon

I put a frame around things and scenes I notice. I do this to draw others’ to also notice them. For as C.S. Lewis wrote, “the human mind does not willingly regard as common, that which is enclosed.”

So I enclose gardens and drawn and painted particulars so they stand out to be recognized and considered. I edge them in stone or outline them in pathways, or punctuate them with stepping stones.

garden elements - arranged like paint on canvas

Artists select subject matter and then choose what to omit and what to include in the painting. We do this to tell the story we’ve discovered in the particular matter of interest. And then we put a frame around it for protection and to feature it in display.

Much like a painter, a gardener also includes chosen elements in a collected arrangement. Selections are sometimes by a conscious effort to reveal something he/she also discovered and wished to share (benefits of beauty, color, fragrance, wonder, medicine, culinary use, attracting nature, and more). And sometimes gardeners choose impulsively or intuitively on a more gut level, simply selecting plants of preference.

So consider a garden – it can be a collection of rare and unusual exotics, an English cottage garden of perennials, a wildflower field, a tulip patch, a tasty vegetable plot, a wetlands or water scene, a collection of mountain conifers, a miniature version of the seashore, maybe a desert scene, or an oasis found there. It can be an eclectic collection of plants from various continents, countries, and habitats – all now together to “paint” the setting.

As an artist, I like to make things beautiful and make beautiful things. So in my gardens, I paint with plants, considering how they grow, what they show, and when. I see in them patterns and metaphors. I also just like their beauty, and that they are alive. Within the property, I’m beginning to group plants into habitats. I have native mountain trees with bear grass,  and also an English cottage garden in memory of my Grandma Florence.

dynamic, living art

Paintings keep changing during the painting process but then are completed and sealed. Because they are alive, gardens do eventually become established, yet are always changing.

framing garden wonders

I’m also considering enclosing the garden in a frame, or a series of frames. In this way, I’m inviting other viewers to also pause, look, and consider something I’ve discovered there.

Here are some photo examples of living art “in the frame.”

smaller frames - mini art gardens

I also have smaller living "gardens" which are literally framed in wood like an actual art frame. I'm not the first to do this, but I like my spin on it - still being intentional to put a frame around the ordinary or extraordinary to be noticed and enjoyed.