Sculpting with Mother Nature

These four local gardens enhance nature with sculptures created by the gardens’ owners.

By Lisa Truesdale For professional artists, sharing gallery space with others is an ordinary occurrence. But six local sculptors are discovering how extraordinary it is to share space with the world’s most prolific and well-loved artist of all: Mother Nature. These sculptors’ dramatic gardens blend their creations with nature’s. The results are an eye-pleasing mix of plants and artwork that highlights the striking interplay between human and natural creation. Here are photographs of their art, framed by Mother Nature’s vaulted gallery, plus the sculptors’ thoughts about gardening and the creative process.

Ed & Barb Seifert’s Garden

: Ed & Barb Seifert's garden | Photo by Lisa Truesdale

Ed and Barb Seifert share a threefold career—they own a design/build landscape firm; they operate a tree nursery; and they create sculptural works of art for public and private collections all over the country, including their own Longmont garden.

: Photo by Lisa Truesdale

“In our garden gallery, sculpture is used as structural contrast, sometimes in a secluded niche or simply to frame distant mountain views. We have a garden view out every window of our home, which promotes the indoor-outdoor lifestyle we live.”Ed and Barb Seifert share a threefold career—they own a design/build landscape firm; they operate a tree nursery; and they create sculptural works of art for public and private collections all over the country, including their own Longmont garden. “The sounds of water and wildlife are abundant within our landscape, which inspires us to create outdoor garden pieces.” Arabella Tattershall’s Garden

: Arabella Tattershall's garden | Photo by Weinrauchphotography.com

Many of Arabella Tattershall’s unique creations are made of metal, because “I ask for movement, conveyance, fluidity and reaction, and the metal gives.” Some special pieces reside in her sprawling Lafayette garden, while others can be found in public and private collections all over the country. “Leaves are the focal point of my work; I am enamored with them. They keep falling into my pieces, as they would from a tree, and I accept their gifts of seasonal engagement in the guises of frailty, tenacity, color and shape. I also love birds, branches, nests.” “The object behind my work is to bring joy to others. All my sculpture is meant to be interactive. Let a vine grow up it, let the birds sit on it. Don’t hide it in a corner. Just place it in the garden, leave it there year-round, grow things around the base.”

George Peters’ and Melanie Walker’s Garden

: George Peters’ & Melanie Walker’s garden | Photo by Weinrauchphotography.com

“The garden is the place where we live. It is where the magic of nature happens at our own doorstep every spring.

: Photo by Weinrauchphotography.com

It is a place of color, of retreat and solace.”George Peters and Melanie Walker work together to create their “art of the air,” which can be found as far away as Tokyo and as close as their own colorful Mapleton Hill garden. Their works include sculpture, kites, puppetry and miniatures, and they’ve also worked with photography, painting and theater design. “Our plastic ‘snow flowers’ are perfect in the winter, because they add so much color to the brown, white and gray—and the deer don’t eat them!”

Sue Quinlan’s Garden

: Sue Quinlan's garden | Photo by Sue Quinlan

Sue Quinlan used to be a prolific painter—until she went back to school at age 50 for a painting degree and ended up in a 3-D class. “I fell in love with the medium, and it made me think, ‘Why didn’t I get started on this earlier?’” Today her creations grace her garden in northeast Boulder, as well as public and private collections from California to Florida. “I spend time daily in the gardens during the spring and summer. This time energizes me to create in my studio. The theme of my flower gardens is rural and natural, which plays beautifully with my cultural artifacts.”

“The major backdrop of my south flower bed is a gray concrete silo from the old dairy farm that formerly occupied this site. The very large vertical dimension of the silo provides a perfect backdrop for my vertical piece called ‘Cultural Pedestrians.’” “My fusion of cultural icons illuminates the connections we all share, including the joys and struggles surrounding ubiquitous events like birth, death and human relationships.”

Sculpting with Mother Nature

These four local gardens enhance nature with sculptures created by the gardens’ owners.

Ed & Barb Seifert’s Garden

George Peters’ and Melanie Walker’s Garden

Sue Quinlan’s Garden

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