Snow people sit right on the bones of a landscape
The other day a light snow fell. From the first push of the
shovel we knew it was great snowman snow. We threw some,
wheelbarrowed more, packed the mounds and sculpted them. Then we
used food coloring and water in a spray bottle to brighten the
scene.
You might think this is all play and
we certainly do have fun with it. Yet it's also a design exercise.
Nature's giving us all a clean slate and easily doodled white
canvas plus the wherewithal to pile up or scrape away with ease.
Put a new focal point out in the yard, see how you like it, let it
melt away -- no sweat!
Take a snow shovel and draw new bed
lines, no worries about working around that peony or seeing past
that rose -- they're all out of the picture for the season. We can
be really free in our thinking
Can't stand to shovel? Food coloring
is a bright marker on snow, yet easily erased.
Our teddy bear stops the eye
before it travels too quickly to the front door. By making the eye
spend more time perusing a scene, a designer can make the whole
seem larger, with more room for interesting side trips.
Go out and play!
Go out and play when the next snow
falls. Be a kid again, ignore the limits imposed by special plants
and growing season chores. Then take a look at what you've done
from a living room window or approaching car. We've had
revelations, we've shared guffaws, and we've enjoyed the
specialness of the season.
Every day is a gift and every garden
is worth playing in all year. We hope you smile and pull on your
boots.
More snow play and a tip from the photographer
Our snow lions frame a focal point, the entrance to our
front path. Maybe you remember the trio above, left, another other
variation on that theme.
The trio appeared in What's Coming Up 82, which could
combine with What's Coming Up 21's green and blue snow gardeners to
form the start of another Blue Susan list -- Goofy Garden topics
not yet posted here. Care to Sponsor those issues? Click here
and submit a Sponsorship email naming the topic you want to Sponsor
and any amount you care to contribute.
What's at an entrance sets a tone, establishes the balance
and creates the first point in a visual path that can be quite
different from the one your feet will take.
- Janet Macunovich -
Photographer's tip
If you take a picture of a snowy garden, take several shots,
setting the exposure to overexpose at least one. That can correct
for a camera's tendency to make snow scenes gray.