recycled – transplant studio

we’ve been keeping busy on the garden project front for the past couple of months. projects that have nothing to do with gardening per se, but add personal atmosphere to the places we enjoy spending time in.

one project that i was very pleased see come to fruition was the garden signage for the DIG. friend and fellow MG volunteer judy and i started working on the project quite a while ago. six of these garden location signs were installed for the arboretum dedication that took place on arbor day. the signs were fabricated here in town, on a uv-protected aluminum and vinyl composite panel called signabond. the panels were attached to standard chain link fence line posts using brace bands.

bcmga signs_021a — bcmga garden location sign

bcmga signs_004a — bcmga garden location sign

i designed the signs using the bluebonnet of the brazos county MG logo as inspiration for the background logo for the signs. after working on it for so long, i only saw the bluebonnets, but most everyone else saw trees… a subtle coincidence that i thought would perfectly apply to both the arboretum and gardens at the DIG.

bcmga signs_001a — garden location sign line up

the plan is to continue using this graphic style for the rest of the DIG signage. knowing that, i also used it for the dedication invitation and program brochure designs. since it was arbor day, the board requested i change the color to green, a more tree-friendly color.

Arboretum Dedication Invitation_green.ai — arboretum dedication invitation

back on the home front, i updated our address sign from the crappy plastic-plaque-with-glue-oozing-from-behind-the-numbers (no picture, you’ll have to imagine it) to this:

modern numerals floating above a slab of walnut (from upstate ny) we had left over from another project. i still have to modify how it attaches to the brick and figure out some way to conceal the screws. it already gives a warmer feel to the entrance of our home.

mr. grwhryrpltd finished the second of two metal welded sculptures (the first was a christmas present for his mom; unfortunately, i don’t have any pictures of it to show you…), and we planted it in the garden today. he makes me smile:

af_005a — welded metal man sings in the garden

and finally, today’s most recent garden project consisted of utilizing the tub of vino bottles we’ve acquired over the past two years into a new edging material. because really, when you can’t recycle green or brown glass, what better way to use them?

af_002a — the sun shines on the wine bottle garden edge

i’m looking forward to watching how light will pass through the bottles throughout the day and see how the entire edge weathers over time. 47 bottles wasn’t quite enough to finish the entire length of the garden, so i guess we have a few more bottles to consume… like 100 more… garden party, anyone?! come on over, and help us come up with the next round of garden projects to add to the list…

i realize i’ve had a lot of birthday posts lately, but i haven’t gotten around to posting about mine, which occurred about three weeks ago. the day beforehand, mr. grwhryrpltd and i picked up my sister (who had a conveniently scheduled business meeting later in the week) in houston so she could join in on the festivities. our first stop was one of the quirkiest art houses in houston, the orange show center for visionary art:

2402 munger st. houston, tx — welcome to the folk art hub of houston, tx

in 1954, jeff mckissack, a retired postal worker, hobbiest plantsman and eccentric artisan, decided to persue his dream of opening a citrus nursery (so called the american tree nursery and worm ranch). after 10 years, he closed the nursery down as it was “more trouble than it was worth.” directed by a “vision” to build the orange show in honor of his favorite fruit, mckissack aggregated found objects and common building materials over a period of 25 years, erecting the structure seen above. according to mckissack, the purpose of the orange show was “to encourage people to eat oranges, drink oranges, and be highly amused.” and so we were:

in 1980, mckissack passed away, just 8 months after the show was completed. the orange show of visionary art is now a non-profit foundation whose mission is to “preserve, promote and document visionary art environments, provide opportunities for the expression of personal artistic vision and create a community where that expression is valued.” in 2006 the orange show was listed on the national register of historic places. but the foundation’s greatest contribution is the continued support of public arts education and participatory events to the surrounding community. it sponsors a number of opportunities for children and adults to express their inner artist through programs including community murals and the ever-popular art car parade. i think jeff mckissack would certainly be amused to see how influential his show has been and continues to be…

from there we moved onto our second stop, the beer can house, another folk art museum supported by the center for visionary arts. john milkovisch was a retired railroad upholsterer with one too many empties on his hand. in 1968 he thought he put them to good use by incorporating them onto his home and landscape. over 18 years, milkovisch, his wife and sons adorned the entire house in aluminum siding and since he was “sick of mowing the grass,” covered his landscape with marble-studded concrete (hmmm…) although he scoffed at any mention of his property being considered art, in 2001 the center for visionary arts acquired the property after the milkovisches passed away. we arrived too late for the inside tour, but stayed to get a few exterior images: