Originally published Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM
PrintOutdoor Living
North Seattle | Garden As Gallery
When you see the inspired, weather-resilient works of art displayed at the E.B. Dunn Gardens ArtWalk, you wonder why all artists don't design for the outdoors.
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KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
David Chatt is best known as a bead artist; he debuted his organically shaped cast-glass works in the ponds at the Dunn Gardens. Might these translucent sea creatures be a new alien life form emerging from the watery depths? (www.davidchatt.com)
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Dehanna Jones' glass floats look as great bobbing in a pond or fountain as they do scattered across the lawn. Jones makes the spheres in 6-, 8- and 10-inch sizes. (www.dehannajones.com or Totally Blown Glassworks, 206-768-8944)
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Clare Dohna hand cuts and paints each beautiful bit of her unique, frost-hardy mosaic pieces. Here, one of her medium-sized bugs (12 by 16 by 8 inches) crawls along a woodland path. (www.claredohna.com)
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Olympia artist Kim Merriman's "Hummingbird" hovers above a bed of hostas and hydrangeas, its colored glass wings outstretched for light to filter through. Made of steel and glass, this hummer is a whopping 58 by 28 by 48 inches. (www.kimmerrimanart.com)
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Brandon Zebold's hand-cut steel "Sounding" is set against the lush green backdrop of rhododendrons and conifers for a theatrical contrast of hard metal and soft foliage. The piece is 77 by 30 by 30 inches. (Brandon@ZeboldStudios.com or 206-860-7945)
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
"Fern Boat" by Lummi Island sculptress Ann Morris belies its metal fabrication by looking so light it could float away on a sea of heather. The boat is 8 by 3 by 96 inches, not counting the stand. (information@annmorrisbronze.com)
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Robert Fairfax's "Purple Pods" rising up out of a bed of hostas and ferns lend a primeval air to the garden. Each 2-foot-tall pod is made of acrylic resin and painted with automotive paint. (e-mail to faxman@wildblue.net)
When you see the inspired, weather-resilient works of art displayed at the E.B. Dunn Gardens ArtWalk, you wonder why all artists don't design for the outdoors.
True, the elegant vistas and mature plantings of the historic Olmsted-designed Dunn Gardens in Northwest Seattle make an especially dramatic backdrop for this biennial tour. Once I'd seen Clare Dohna's mosaic herons sheltered by a maple tree, David Chatt's creature-like glass pieces half submerged in a pond and dozens of glass floats sprinkled across the gardens' "Great Lawn" at the 2007 tour, it was impossible to imagine these pieces ever looking so amazing enclosed by walls under artificial light.
Maybe it's the intense green of conifers and ferns, our luminous Northwest light or the exciting juxtaposition of the man-made and the natural, but I came home from last year's art walk with the notion that a garden's highest purpose might well be an open-air art gallery.
The summer 2009 Dunn Gardens ArtWalk will feature the work of 25 artists on the theme of next year's Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Centennial. (Closer to the time, check out www.dunngardens.org for dates and details.) Congratulations to all who gather such talent together in so glorious a setting.
Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "A Pattern Garden." Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net. Ken Lambert is a Seattle Times staff photographer.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
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