Art In The Yard

Last year we had new doors put on the house. For the front, back and side doors on the main floor we chose a style with pretty glass in them.



As you know Rob has been rebuilding our deck. It started as a minor repair, to replace two boards and turned into a complete makeover. The deck is almost finished and looks great. For the safety of the dogs we have gates at the top and foot of the deck stairway and we decided to put a gate across the front entrance to the porch. Rob built all the gates and for the front he wanted something decorative to compliment the doors.


He built this gate. The posts are metal tubes and he did the stained glass himself. He's never worked with stained glass before, but he had so much fun with it that he's going to do another piece for the back gate. This one represents the moon.


This gate is at the top of the steps going from the deck into the back yard. He drilled the holes to let light and air onto the steps.


This is the gate at the foot of the steps into the yard. He's drilling holes into this one, too. Then he plans to do a stained glass piece representing the sun near the top of this gate.

Rob is an abstract artist and I used to sketch and paint, though now I stick mainly to fiber arts.
As I was watching the progress on the last gate, I started thinking about the other art we have around us. We have some on the outside of the house.


This fellow was an orphan. His owners had put him at the side of the street with their trash waiting for the truck to pick him up. Rob noticed him as he was driving by and stopped for him. We adopted him and he likes to sit by the tower sticking his tongue out at the dogs. He was a little worn and scarred, but that's OK, who isn't?


This small fellow is obviously playing pipes, but Rob calls him Saint Sandwich. He usually spends the summer in the flower garden.


This big boy is my favorite. He's a little over two feet tall and very heavy. I love his little hooves and his worried expression. He also sits among the flowers in the summer, but I'm thinking of finding him a special place on the deck next year.


Our frog seats were intended to sit near the fish pond, but until the pond is finished they live under the oak tree.


There are a pair of them and I like their placid expressions.


The tree face watches over the yard. We've had a few problems with him. Bailey can just reach his mouth if she stands on her back feet and stretches out her leg. She knocks it off, then hides it. I have to wander around the yard looking for it. The squirrel also steals features. Last week he took one of the eyes and I found it on the woodpile.


This piece used to hang on the deck at our Maryland house. Now it has a place of honor in the garage. It looks a lot like our dog Pylon who was the dog we adopted just before we were married.


We have a lot of windchimes. I've already taken some of the more delicate ones inside for the winter, but there are a few still hanging on the deck. These frogs will go inside soon to wait till spring.


This fellow stays out year round.


When the wind blows we get lots of music .


The big one is a Mongolian yak bell. Imagine wearing that thing around your neck.


Next year the plans are to build a pergola in the corner of the deck to house a lot of the chimes.


We have a sundial that used to live in the back yard. We were afraid that a dog running by would injure himself, so we now have it on the deck. We're trying to decide on the perfect place for it.


This little chime has a lovely sound. It hangs in the oak tree and we can hear it from the living room.


Our largest piece of garden art is this huge arch. It was the first piece we bought together. It was the first prize winner at an art festival and weighs over 500 pounds so we're looking for a permanent place for it in the yard. Right now, as you can see, it's getting a face lift. The old paint was chipped and flaking off so Rob has sanded it down and put a new topcoat on it. Once we get the concrete base poured for it, we'll bolt it in place and give it a shiny new coat of paint.

I recently made a purchase that I'm very pleased with for the fish pond, but I'll save it for the next post.