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Font ResizeBy Janice De Jesus
CorrespondentPosted: 06/15/2011 01:09:16 PM PDTUpdated: 06/15/2011 03:41:47 PM PDT
Freya van Dien believes that when people step into the Ruth Bancroft Garden, they step into an exotic world.
So it's fitting that a garden, full of unique plants from desert and Mediterranean climates designed only by gardening pioneer herself Ruth Bancroft, be filled with sculptures just as exotic.
The work of several notable local sculptors will adorn the garden for a month beginning June 17 for the garden's annual sculpture show, which normally kicks off Father's Day weekend.
"The Annual Sculpture in the Garden is a one-of-a-kind art event in the East Bay and Contra Costa vicinity," said van Dien, communications manager for the garden. "The Ruth Bancroft Garden is the only public garden in the region that hosts an outdoor sculpture event of this scale."
The 3.5-acre garden, and its famous collection of succulents and Mediterranean plants, forms the backdrop for over 200 sculptures by artists from all over Northern California. Visitors can walk though the garden and follow the pathways to encounter sculptures in various media, including glass, bronze, ceramic, wood and metals, she said.
"The sculptures are selected to complement a garden environment and many of the pieces are of a size that permits placing them into a garden without any special installation," van Dien said.
Melissa Mork, who lives in Briones, said she uses sheet metal to make three-dimensional sculptures of animals.
"Metal is a great medium but
using it means that I have to translate flat static metal, into the dynamic forms of natural animals," Mork said. "By trial and error, I've come up with my own way of doing this. I don't always succeed, but I like to think I come close."
Mork said she creates art because it is her nature to.
"Birds got to fly, fish got to swim, artists got to work. But it's not some mysterious inborn thing," she said. "Practice and skill count for a lot. Anyone with the desire and determination to train their eye and learn a medium can become an artist."
She said people need to know that art is accessible and a garden setting helps make it so.
"People are unnecessarily intimidated by art, when it's really just another skill and approachable by anyone willing to work at it," Mork said.
Leroy Parker of Lafayette will feature elegant figurative sculptures created from recycled metals namely white coat hangers. Hi work was influenced by artists Alexander Calder, David Smith and, of course, Pablo Picasso.
"I think that this creative process is refreshing and it enlivens and vivifies the human mind to find something new done with something which seems to have only one use," Parker said. "It takes one out of the box to a new place and makes it open to new possibilities."
Parker, who will also highlight his large ceramics, said he lives by the motto "Education through art is the best."
Eileen Fitz-Faulkner creates three-dimensional sculptures using rebar, wire, fiberglass and concrete.
"Many I mosaic, others I paint, stain or leave natural concrete. Currently I am exploring two different series: eggs and large fruit. In choosing a first shape, the egg came to me as a symbol for beginning," said Fitz-Faulkner, an Orinda resident. "I love the solidity and the simplicity of the form. They beg the question, 'What's inside?'"
Although many people have suggested she present one open egg, she believes that an intact egg has great potential for wonderment and this potential is their great secret, she said.
"The plantings at the Ruth Bancroft gardens are so sculptural themselves it creates a great canvas for the art work," said Fitz-Faulkner. "There are incredible pieces by many talented artists. I've enjoyed meeting them and hearing about their work. Many people come to see the show and it's wonderful to have my work exposed to such a large audience. My sculpture is designed to be displayed outside because gardens give me a sense of peace and a place to rest my soul. I feel there is magic in nature, still, I like to create a little of my own. My work enlivens the landscape and provides a dash of color, fun and curiosity. These oversize works not only delight people, they also keep me from taking myself too seriously, something I am often inclined to do."
Sculpture in the Ruth Bancroft GardenWHEN: June 17-July 16, open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. Preview Party, 5:30-8 p.m., June 17; Kickoff Weekend, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. June 18-19; Sunset Social: Art & Wine in the Garden, 5:30-8 p.m., July 8.
WHERE: Ruth Bancroft Garden, 1552 Bancroft Road, Walnut Creek.
COST: General admission, $10; members, senior and students, $7; children under 12 free
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