I'm fortunate to have had the opportunity to see Ruth Asawa's work at a time when I was looking for a way to break out from the wire wrapping and wire crochet I was using to make jewelry to sell at local flea markets and street fairs in Los Angeles. Those days seem like a lifetime ago now that I've settled into a house in the rural countryside of the Pacific Northwest.
My home is surrounded by beauty as are most places I'm sure. The crevice sliced face of Mt. Si looms just to the east. I can catch just a glimpse of it's jagged top from the backyard, through a gap in the tall fir trees. The roar of Tokul Creek lifts up from the gulch down below as it hurls toward it's flow partner, the Snoqualmie River. The Snoqualmie Falls - just 1.8 miles from my house - sends a bit of a more dull roar up from the distance. I can especially hear it at night.
Since moving here in 2009, I've planted an assortment of fruit trees, berries, flowering shrubs, evergreen and deciduous trees, flowers that bloom year after year, bamboo, honeysuckle...the list goes on and on. This past summer I spent many days toiling in the front yard where I installed a slice of a garden. Looking out at it today it's hard to envision what it will look like in two or four or five years. The young himalayan honeysuckle, the magnolia trees, mock orange, lilacs, hostas, lilies, iris, daffodils and tulips will fill that space with colors, textures and an abundance of birds, bees and butterflies and of course the dragonflies that light off from the neighboring pond.
I'm grateful I don't have to choose between gardening and art. I can divide my time between both loves allowing each to inspire the other.