Saturday, April 8, 2017

Arial Gardens in the Poet Section


Let the blisters and body aches ensue. It's totally worthwhile when you arrive at the finished product but that time has not come yet and I have a ways to go. A few more blisters probably. I would say we're about halfway there. With three stories and two dozen windows I thought it would be a great idea to create arial rock gardens viewable from the upper floors of the home. It will make for a nice surprise when you look out and down.



Since late February I have been collecting specific round, heart or egg shaped rocks and stones at local beaches from the north and south shores. I of course wanted to bring the coastal element home. The surrounding bodies of water have a lot of memories for me from the rocky beaches of the north to the ocean and bay beaches of the south. My plans for my first garden was to create a healing mandala. To put it simply,  and I am still learning myself, a mandala garden is a special garden where rocks are aligned in concentric circles or spirals for the purpose of cleansing bad energies, meditation and more. It also looks really cool. A big believer in positive surroundings and a big fan of fun projects that are eye catching - both were a focus for me. I think it's really important to make the grounds look nice not just for us bu
t also the neighborhood. It makes it more special when everyone can enjoy. Here is where I got so far with the mandala on the outside northeast corner. Looks pretty cool already. I keep catching myself going to the windows just to look at it. I love it, even partially completed.




The second garden I worked on today and got pretty far...hence the blisters and the reason for this entry. I couldn't wait to share. At first I went conventional and it didn't workout for me. Randomly placing stones to fill in spaces and jointing it with rock to hold it was too mundane a solution to me. In fact I had sent a photo to Seth and he wasn't happy with it either. So with that in mind and a moment of "what the hell am I gonna do" I figured it out. I just came to me. I created one of my favorite shapes and a symbol of the constant theme of love I continually encounter on journey. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. That's love! ❤️ Eventually a fully constructed gazebo will be placed over it for summer shade. Hopefully the heart will still be viewable while the canopy is up for the summer. I'm sure it will.

As you can see from the ground you really can't tell what it is or get that wow really cool factor until you're on the second or third floor. It reminds me of a very small version of a geoglyphs of southern Peru called the Nasca Lines. You know those ancient carving in the ground that are only viewable from up high. I've been watching the Discovery and National Geographic channels since I was a kid. I think that's where I drew some of my inspiration. I don't know how it happens tho, I hit a wall and the ideas just come to me. Sometimes thinking to hard can disable your creativity and sometimes a challenge can inspire you.

I can't wait to finish these gardens. I am not sure which material I plan on using to fill in the voids. Maybe more rocks, possibly a dark mulch...or maybe even plants! The beauty of it is I don't have to decide and I can just do as I please. The creative part of me is in control. It feels good to not have to think and just be able to do. It is incredibly relaxing,

Thanks for the read.

Love,

Matthew