The “Geranium Hut,” named so for the cluster of pelargoniums growing at its base. Designed and built by Jeff Shelton

Santa Barbara architect and shed-maker Jeff Shelton appears in my new column for the June issue of 805 Living, a local style magazine based in Westlake Village, California. The column is called ‘In the Garden.’ Not too imaginative, I know. I voted for ‘Deep Roots,’ but I think my editor considered that too esoteric. So like a million other gardening columns, we’re calling ours: ‘In the Garden.’

A blog reader tipped me off about Jeff and his penchant for designing and constructing cool little buildings, sending along a link to the “Huts” section of Jeff’s web site.

When I contacted him to schedule a visit, we had to work around Jeff’s grueling schedule: He was taking time off from his architecture practice between 10 a.m. and noon, four days a week, to teach ultimate frisbee at a middle school. Despite a demanding professional life, Jeff knows how to enjoy the moment. And, of course, this is why he loves creating his little huts.

If it’s possible for someone to be both intense and mellow, Jeff is it. His body language is relaxed, but I can tell his mind is working nonstop. Definitely an out-of-the-box architect, Jeff allows artistry and, dare I say, whimsy, to have a seat at the design table.

“You certainly don’t need skill to build these,” Jeff insisted, describing his structures as something a Dr. Seuss character might erect. While touring me around Oakleigh, his 12-acre family compound in Montecito that dates back to the 1890s (when it was a boarding school for boys), we stepped inside several of the structures, including his wife Karin’s art studio, shown here:

Using whatever was on-hand, working at his leisure during weekends, Jeff fashioned this light-filled room where Karin paints and draws. He appropriated and reassembled old windows and doors, hammered reclaimed fencing to create a cantilevered “porch” for their eldest daughter Elena’s shed, and mounted a mural-painted piece of plywood (originally used for the backdrop of a sixth-grade play) to form one wall of a shed called the Geranium Hut.

In appealing contrast to the luxury world of Santa Barbara and Montecito, Jeff’s little buildings illustrate his Less is Better philosophy:

“People miss out on coziness when their home turns into a status symbol,” Jeff points out. “My job is to try and reduce the size of a project.”

Sometimes, like the forts and tree houses of one’s childhood, the shed “is the answer for the moment,” he says.  

In addition to sharing this illustration of Elena’s Red Shed for use with my column, Jeff gave me a selection of his hand-drawn shed plans. He sketches the dimensions and construction details, makes photocopies, and sells a set of plans for $5. One two-page set of plans, titled “Gardener’s Hut,” includes front, side and back elevations for a cozy, 192-square-foot structure with a tiny loft and a sloped, shed-style roof.

The architect’s design notes appear in the margins, with tips such as “check dumpsters on large construction sites for good stuff,” “design around windows and doors that are available” and “stain wood with watered down latex; 1 gal. will last for years.” An area beneath the shed’s raised foundation is labeled: “place for dog to sleep.”

Often, Jeff helps would-be shed builders to find sources for recycled windows, salvaged wood or other pieces and parts. He is the ultimate scavenger-builder who sees a good use for materials otherwise destined for a landfill. “Save it and use it,” Jeff proclaims.

A note about writing for my “local” style publications, 805 Living magazine. Our monthly magazine has distribution in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, so this new gig allows me to explore in my new backyard. I’m meeting great garden designers, architects, plantsmen and women, and I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot.

In addition, editor Lynne Andujar pretty much lets me run with the ideas I find exciting. I am grateful for the freedom she gives and it reminds me of working with a few other trusting and supportive editors in my past, including Melanie Munk at The Herald and Giselle Smith at Seattle Homes & Lifestyles.

When Lynne and I met at a press luncheon last December, we discovered that we have a common past: We both worked for Seventeen Magazine early in our careers. I’m sure she was there more than a decade after I was, but even still, there is a common language for anyone who’s done that gig. Not exactly the stuff of “The Devil Wears Prada,” but kinda.

Thanks to a connection made by my Seattle-based PR whiz-friend Cindy Combs, I was invited to be a guest on “Living Today,” the daily afternoon show on Martha Stewart Living Radio. The segment originally aired on April 28th, the day before Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways was published.

I had a delightful 25-minute conversation with gregarious host Mario Bosquez.  We discussed the ideas and inspiration for one of my very favorite subjects: Creating Your Dream Shed.

 

The “Living Today” team (from left to right): associate producer Lauren Gould, producer Naomi Gabay, host Mario Bosquez, and engineer Chris Hauselt [MSL Radio photo]

The interview was completely enjoyable, enhanced by Mario’s enthusiasm and constant affirmation, which gave the impression that talking about “elegant hideaways” was to him the most exciting topic on earth!

Obtaining an audio copy of the interview was nothing short of a miracle, however. It involved (a), signing up for a free 3-day subscription to Sirius Radio; (b) setting up my crappy little cassette recorder next to the computer so I could tape the show as it streamed live on the net; and (c) racing into the other room to do the interview by phone with Mario.

Once my segment of the show was finished, I returned to my office and rewound the recording of the interview. Not only was it kind of scratchy and there were all sorts of pinging sounds from my computer (probably some kind of AOL affectation that lets you know if a new message has arrived), I also discovered that the tape ran out before the interview was over. I begged my publisher to try and obtain a professional recording from some kind of media monitoring service, but that request went nowhere.

So, finally, thanks to my wonderful collaborator Bill Wright, who figured out how to convert a cassette recording into a digital file (and who, I’m sure, devoted many hours to clean up the poor quality sound captured by my amateurish recording), we have a reasonable facsimile of the interview. Thanks, too, to Bob Meador, aka the web guru, for further enhancing and editing the file, filtering out background noises where possible, and posting the audio to my web site.

Thanks to the support of my friends, I actually have the interview to share, albeit more than a month after it originally aired. Click here to listen: Debra on MSL Radio.

Liz Lyons Friedman, at the easel inside her studio [William Wright photo]

Liz Lyons Friedman, artist and printmaker extraordinaire, creates joy-inducing pictures in her boathouse-turned-atelier in Aptos, California (near Santa Cruz). Her vibrant artwork documents life, love, food, wine, home, garden, travel and more — all those pursuits cherished by lovers of beauty. The stuff of which memories and friendship are made. One of her recent series of prints is aptly entitled “Celebrations.”

After we discovered Liz (thanks to Christina Glynn of the Santa Cruz Tourism Bureau), Bill and I knew we would have a blast photographing her gallery-like studio. We arrived v-e-r-y early one March morning in 2007, in need of caffeine and hauling all sorts of camera equipment and lighting out of my Subaru stationwagon.

Boathouse-turned-art studio, enhanced by a cactus garden designed and planted by Liz and her partner John Gavrilis [William Wright photo]

We shot the exterior of Liz’s studio at dawn, the filtered light gracing a sculptural garden of cactus and succulents. Inside her 10-by-25 foot “shoe box,” Liz has created a gallerylike space for making and displaying her artwork. A 16-foot-long bank of windows faces the garden and ocean, drawing much-desired natural light to the interior spaces where her easel and printing press stand. Plastered walls, finished in a warm golden hue, highlight the framed prints that hang in nicely-organized groupings. French doors, worktables and a printing press finish the space.

Liz describes it this way:

“I go inside and it’s so peaceful there,” she says. “I think back to the French ateleirs, and that artists have always wanted a place to get away from everyday life and its distractions – and focus on their painting and drawing.”

“Gardening Tools,” Hand colored linocut  © Liz Lyons Friedman

Liz says that the idea for one of her more recent pieces, “Gardening Tools,” came from spending a day with Bill and me as we photographed her at work, carving a flower with U- and V-shaped knives as she sliced sections of lino tile to reveal the beautiful flower she had designed. She reminded me of the story in a recent email:

“We were chatting about pouring a glass of wine and then going out to the garden in the evening to water or putter. I always point out that the glass of wine is the most important gardening tool in the piece!”

This charming print is the result of her imagination, artistic inspiration and fond memories of time spent in the garden. It makes me very happy to look at, as I imagine Liz puttering in this garden scene. Lines from my chapter about Liz are appropriate to share here:

“In designing this studio, my motive was to make it a happy space, because I make happy art.”

Thank you, Liz! It is a joy to have you in the pages of Stylish Sheds! 

I’m joined by my friend and party hostess Kathy Fries. We’re standing in front of her rustic shack-turned-Doge’s Palace, built by John Akers

The Seattle sun was shining, perhaps a little too brightly, on Saturday, May 17th. In fact, I heard later that temperatures reached close to 90 degrees, a record high for that date in history.

Kathy Fries, aka Shed Diva (she owns four of them!) and her cast of talented gardener helpers, nannies and caterers, threw an unforgettable garden party to celebrate the launch of Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways. Scheduled as an open-garden, which encouraged guests to stroll the peaceful, shady paths through the Fries property, the party paid homage to the fanciful little buildings we captured in the book. The man of the hour, shed-builder John Akers, was “missing,” but we know he likes to avoid crowds. His artistry was well received, oohed and aah-ed over, and festooned with bouquets and champagne. Good job, John! Wish you had come!

The menu included plump strawberries with brown sugar and Devonshire cream, meringue cookies, little sandwiches, iced tea, champagne . . . all served on Kathy’s potting bench-buffet

With more than 120 in attendance, the three-hour event was a bit of a whirlwind. Bill Wright and I felt like we signed books nonstop, greeted friends, hugged and thanked the owners of no fewer than 10 of the sheds featured in our book, and then signed more books. Gillian Mathews of Ravenna Gardens was our cheerful bookseller. She figured out how to get a copy of Stylish Sheds into the hands of anyone who wanted one, even if that meant raiding Kathy’s personal stash or taking orders once she ran out of inventory. We were truly touched with her support. You can find signed copies of Stylish Sheds at her stores.

Xander Fries, collecting eggs for the pages of our book [William Wright photo]

Thank you, Kathy and Ed: you threw a doozie of a party. I have spent many fond hours in this magical landscape, but honestly, it has never looked more beautiful. The flowers bloomed larger and brighter, the vines threw out new, spring-green tendrils, the ferns glistened in the dappled light. Our guest-signer, Xander Fries, who is featured on page 73 collecting eggs from the Palais de Poulets, charmed guests by autographing “his page” of the book.

A highlight for me was seeing so many dear friends in my (former) Seattle gardening community. It has been nearly two years since I left for LA, and it was a treat to return for this celebration. Owners of all nine Washington sheds featured in our pages came to help celebrate. Without them, we wouldn’t have completed this awesome project and we are honored they came and helped mark the publication!

Bill, Steven and Sylvia Williams, and me

But the prize goes to Sylvia and Steven Williams, who traveled from Texas to attend the party! Only two weeks after throwing a party for us at Stonebridge, their garden in Bertram, Syliva and Steven flew to Seattle to join us. They represented their home state in Texas style, dazzling everyone with their out-sized friendship, not to mention cowboy hats.

 

The party treats were simply fabulous, including Kathy’s elegant version of my amateurish “shed cookies.” She gets the “Martha Prize” for decorating with a piping tube and marbling the frosting. Really, Kathy. You are amazing.

 

Design/construction by Harrison Bates for Loretta and Terrill Fischer [photography by William Wright] 

“Plant conservatory meets pool party when a brother-and-sister team designs a steel-framed backyard shed.”

This opening line to the “Mod Pod” chapter in Stylish Sheds introduces one of the hottest projects we’ve come across. It resides in a modest Austin backyard. Owner Loretta Fischer wanted a greenhouse to store her tropical plants during the winter months. When she asked her brother Harrison Bates to build it, the project quickly changed from ordinary to outrageous. These two know how to have fun. Their project started out as a rectangular building with a traditional pitched roof. Things changed dramatically, seemingly overnight, when Harrison’s wild imagination exploded to create the hippest greenhouse ever built.

Here is the original design, sketched by Harrison on a post-it note:

As Harrison recalled when I interviewed him last year: “Loretta said, ‘why don’t you build me a greenhouse?’ So I gave her a sketch and said, ‘here’s your greenhouse with a little pointy roof.'”

The rest is history. For his second version of the design, Harrison addressed Loretta’s concern about wanting to see into her yard (she didn’t want the shed to block her view of the rest of the garden) and to save a mature bur oak. 

According to Loretta, Harrison’s new design blew her away: “The next day he brought me this elaborate drawing of a fancy, modern greenhouse. I don’t even know what he was thinking. We both love modern architecture, but I was really surprised with his sketch.”

Here’s what the Pod schematic looked like after Harrison “tweaked” it.

Elevation of new shed

Floor plan, showing where the shed wraps around the bur oak

Site plan showing how the footprint of the Mod Pod fits into the Fischer backyard

Harrison designed the asymmetrical, V-shaped structure with roof sections tilted at shallow angles. He used combinations of 7-foot squares and right-angle triangles to engineer this wildly imaginative building. A slant on its south side wraps around the oak tree and juts toward Loretta and Terrill’s house.

I love this story about Loretta and Harrison because it encourages the breaking of conventions, the bending of rules — coloring outside the lines, so to speak. Who says a greenhouse has to be shoebox-shaped? Why can’t it be a parallelogram? Surrounded by a pentagonal moat-fountain? Built from conventional materials in an highly unconventional manner?

Today I stumbled across a surprise from Harrison. He visited our book’s page on Amazon.com and posted photos taken from design-through-construction of his sister’s playful structure. Here is the link. You’ll enjoy the slide show! Thanks, Harrison – you rock!

P.S., I couldn’t resist this photo of the Bates kids playing in the swimming pool one Texas summer decades ago. With their brother Doug (left), Harrison (center) and big Sis’ Loretta (right), this Polaroid shot hints at the future pool-inspired water element that Harrison and Loretta created surrounding her Mod Pod (Photo and illustrations: courtesy Harrison Bates)

Marty Wingate’s review of Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways appears in today’s issue of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

My former colleague, also known as The Grounded Gardener, devotes her column to “Retooling the old garden shed.”

I love the way that Marty weaves an engaging tale about the relationship between garden-makers and the structures that occupy their landscapes.

These new “garden accessories,” as one of my editors describes the architectural gems cropping up between the herb garden and the mixed perennial border, are places that draw us outdoors, to spend even more time in the garden. Marty writes:

“Once the denizen of dusty corners in the backyard, the garden shed has emerged to become an outdoor living space. No longer does it store lawn mowers, bags of grass seed and rakes – or if it does, you’d never know by its exterior.”

Marty’s piece features Bill Wright’s photography of Jennie Hammill’s lovely glass house in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. First of all, we should acknowledge that Gillian Mathews of Ravenna Gardens suggested the inclusion of Jennie’s delightful “room with a view.”

Out of the blue, as often happened during the course of working on Stylish Sheds, I received a letter in the mail. It read:

“Dear Debra, Gillian, of Ravenna Gardens, tells me that you are writing a book on Garden Houses. I wondered if you would be interested in mine. It was designed by Randy Keller, ASLA, and I built it. Randy has a really neat garden house as well, built of of recycled windows and doors (as is mine)….please feel free to call if you would like to come visit.” Sincerely, Jennifer Hammill.

I remember visiting Jennie and her husband Tully on a misty June morning in 2006. After walking through their bungalow (where there are two side-by-side grand pianos occupying the heart of their living room – Jennie is also an accomplished pianist and teacher), we exited the kitchen door onto the back porch. As I noticed the fabulous glass house, constructed with no fewer than 43 recycled and hand-built windows and doors, I nearly began to hyperventilate with excitement.

Like a miniature conservatory, the glass house is fascinating to study (Volunteer Park Conservatory, seen at left, has crossed windows that inspired those on Jennie’s structure). She calls hers the Teahouse. Light pours into, through, and out of the 10-by-14-foot shelter. The divided windows – glass squares, rectangles and triangles — form the shapes between mullions and render a slightly surreal scene. Depending on where one stands, at dawn when the garden day is awakening or at dusk when Ballard’s sky is illuminated by a setting sun, the distinct shape of each glass pane is outlined in sharp detail.

While she first worried that the teahouse would crowd her garden, Jennie says it has done the opposite. “I thought it would make the garden look totally minuscule, but the garden feels more spacious now,” she says.

Randy’s tiny glass house at Rosentangle, his garden

Her partner-in-design, Randolph Scott Keller, ASLA Landscape Architecture, has been urging Jennie to get into the glass house-building business. An accomplished fine cabinetmaker who owns Ballard Woodworks, Jennie has many beautiful pieces of furniture and cabinetry to her credit. But this project is probably her most personal. And she’s not ready to build one again for a long time. I like to imagine that Jennie’s time is divided between teaching piano, building exquisite cabinetry, and spending moments in the teahouse. That’s pretty satisfying.

You know how they say “everything is bigger in Texas”?

When it comes to throwing a party, I think it’s true!

Last weekend, Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways was feted at two separate gatherings: one in the country; another in the city. Our hosts are some of our favorite Texas shedistas, who invited their friends, family and fellow master gardeners to toast this project. Here is a recap:

HILL COUNTRY HAVEN, Steven and Sylvia Williams

Sylvia and three of her talented friends, Claire, Suzi and Nancy, pulled out all the stops to create a dazzling spring-afternoon-in-the-garden last Friday. We arrived, champagne in hand, to find these four doing the creative cooking of an entire catering crew in Sylvia’s kitchen. These gals were also “on-location” with us last April 2007, when they posed for a tea party portrait in Sylvia’s garden shed. We laughed and giggled our way through a very fun photo shoot. The final party photograph didn’t make it into the pages of Stylish Sheds, so I’ll share it here:

From left: Suzi Campagna, Nancy Kinard, shed owner and hostess Sylvia Williams and Claire Harrah [William Wright photo]

Stonebridge Gardens in Bertram, Texas, the site of last Friday’s book party, was in its glory. The charming limestone rock garden shed that Sylvia and Steven designed (built by Sylvia’s son Brad McCasland and Paul Solis) was at the heart of the celebration. The menu included delicious garden-inspired food, floriferous cakes and little edible “flowerpots” that fed the eyes as well as satisfied the palate. We greeted 60 or 70 of Sylvia and Steven’s friends and signed copies of Stylish Sheds. Thank you to local, independent bookseller “The Bookshop” in Marble Falls, Texas (and owner Dortha Feaster-Coalterand her daughter Robin) for handling the book sales and sending everyone home with a gift tote-bag!

Robin and Dortha of The Bookshop – happy book-sellers

Bill and Debra meeting Sylvia’s son Brad and granddaughter Jessica inside her wonderful shed

Party Number Two: 

MOD POD, Austin, Texas

Loretta and Terrill Fischer, owners of a wild-and-crazy modern greenhouse-inspired shed in the heart of Austin, threw their shed shindig  on Saturday night, drawing nearly 100 guests. It was a perfect foodie occasion, featuring Loretta’s famous cheesecakes. She pulled out all of those secret recipes from her days of owning Loretta’s Fabulous Cheesecakes of Texas, a popular Austin bakery. Jalapeno cheesecake, anyone? Bite-sized chocolate and original mini-cheesecakes with a fresh raspberry on top! I’m ready to promote her as the next hot cookbook author after sampling a savory Gorgonzola and onion cheesecake, which Loretta served like a spread (you just scoop up a bit with the knife, slather it on a cracker, and you’ll never think of an ordinary cheesecake again!).

Clearly, the food was swell. So was the music, the candle-lights and lanterns, and the centerpiece of the party, the stunning garden house. Designer and builder, Harrison Bates (Loretta’s creative brother), was on hand to shyly accept kudos. Thanks to sister Pam for handling book sales (thank goodness she’s in accounting) and to Terrill, husband extraordinaire, who bar-tended and kept everyone happy. Loretta – you are amazing! We loved every moment and even though I didn’t go to bed until midnight (and then had to get up at 4 a.m. to race to the airport), it was so worth the jet lag and sleep deprivation to celebrate with you!

P.S., It was great fun to meet Cindy Widner, managing editor of The Austin Chronicle, who attended the party and posted a blog about Loretta’s awesome “shed.” She took a little video of Loretta and bro’ Harrison as they “discussed” who gets design credit for the fabulous Mod Pod. Typical sibling rivalry, to be sure. Fun to see them rib each other. Cindy wrote:

Another excuse to navigate the McMansion debris and bewildering streets of West Austin (the better to appreciate the Fischers’ classic gem) came last weekend in the form of a book release party for Debra Prinzing‘s Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideways, an addictive tome that features William Wright‘s pretty much perfect photographs of fetching outbuildings, including Fischer’s greenhouse and two other sheds from Central Texas (though hailing from Cali, the nutty Norwegian-wood pavilion with grass roof might be my second favorite).

Out-takes from the April 2007 photo shoot. Top: Loretta and Terrill Fischer; Bottom: Harrison Bates (shed designer and builder), hams it up with one of Loretta’s orange balls [William Wright photo]

Showin’ off Stylish Sheds in Austin

 P.P.S., “Style Matters,” a blog by Austin American-Statesman columnist Melanie Spencer, highlighted Stylish Sheds in the May 15th issue.  The headline reads: “Sheds can be a Stylish Retreat.” Melanie writes:

‘Stylish Sheds’ fetes backyard retreats

When it comes to sheds and outbuildings, most of us think of them as utilitarian storage facilities, but some envision a creative, calming or fun backyard retreat. The latter is the case in “Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways: Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations,” by Debra Prinzing ($30, Clarkson Potter Publishers). The book features lavish color photographs by William Wright of sometimes chic, sometimes rustic guest houses from across the country, including writing retreats, gardening cottages and everything between. Of four structures in Texas, two are in Austin, one is in Fredericksburg and another is in Bertram. All will make you yearn for a hideaway of your own.

Debra and Bill – all that hard work has finally paid off!

Bill Wright and I are blessed with friends and family who rallied together to celebrate the publication of Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways!

Sandy set up a comfy wicker table for our book-signing

Whereas tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29th, is the book’s “official” publication date, we jumped the gun and decided to pop the cork yesterday, April 27th.

Gathering in Sandy Koepke’s Beverly Hills courtyard with friends; Debra catches up with “shedistas” Joseph Marek and John Bernatz, whose Santa Monica backyard studio is pictured in Stylish Sheds.

We signed lots of copies!

The setting: Sandy Koepke’s awesome, romantic, Beverly Hills farmhouse and courtyard. This talented designer’s much-published and welcoming home and garden lured no fewer than 80 guests to the Stylish Sheds book launch.

The hostesses: Sandy (left, with Debra), Paula Panich (right, with Debra) and Cristi Walden (seen above with her dad, plantsman Jack Stevenson).

The menu: Tea party fare, including delicious sandwiches, scones, and breads made by my three dear and generous friends. Plus: Shed-shaped cookies (shown above), decorated by my mom, Anita Prinzing.

The temperature: nearly 100-degrees at 4 p.m.! Yes, in April!!!

The guest of honor: Bill Wright, photographer and collaborator extraordinaire, who flew down from Seattle for the occasion. His fellow photographer-friend Winston Hughes was a great addition to the party.

My special guests: Husband Bruce and sons Alex and Benjamin Brooks, my family; plus, my college roommate, Karen Page, who flew down from Seattle for the party.  

 .

Deb and Karen – visiting Lotusland on Friday

Thank you to all who attended and purchased a copy of Stylish Sheds. Proceeds from the book sales benefit the new patio at Phoenix House, a project that will be completed during Big Sunday, next weekend. Sandy Koepke has redesigned a livable and nurturing space for Phoenix House residents in Venice Beach.

We’re off to Austin in 2 days to continue the party!

March 20th is a magical day for me – the Spring Equinox and the day of my son Alexander’s birth. Today he turns eleven! Like me, he is a Pices, arriving at the last possible moment of this sign.

My friend Scott Eklund, now a photographer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, took this “flower baby” portrait of Alex in the fall of 1997 when we were shooting a holiday brochure at Emery’s Garden

I take pleasure in the fact that my first child was born on the Summer Soltice and my second child was born on the day when spring arrives (today!). It feels symbolic and life-affirming in so many ways, especially for a mother whose creative expression occurs in and around the garden. My sons, so special and yet very different from one another, are growing up. Oh, for a time-lapsed movie of their young journey to date. In my memory, my mind’s eye, I can actually see them growing: their legs and arms lengthening; their shoulders broadening. In the stories my husband and I retell one another, we roll back the tape and hit the pause button to watch it over and over again. Remember when….?

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A little piece I wrote for the Los Angeles Times appears today under the banner: Breathing Room.

If you read my “willow” post in January, you’ll know why I so enjoyed composing a short essay about environmental artist Patrick Doughterty’s new Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Garden installation. Called “Catawampus,” the willow sculpture opened on February 24th.

Here is my essay in its entirety. The Times had to cut it for space, which is fine. I like it both ways. Read the published version by clicking here: Branching In.

Willow wisdom

Standing in a distant field, looking like child’s building blocks tossed here by giant hands, the assemblage of woven-willow cubes and rectangles conveys kinetic energy.

Aptly named ‘Catawampus’ by creator Patrick Dougherty, it is slightly askew, beckoning me to draw near.

Taller than a house, the installation is situated away from the main path at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. I approach, noticing how sunlight slips between open spaces formed by the warp and weft of twigs. The tactile quality of each thread-like branch appeals to me: the in-and-out, the over-and-under. I run my hand along the twisted surface, marveling at the density of four-inch-thick walls. My fingers stroke pussy willow-like tips, velvet against the rough twig bark. The structure looks spontaneously woven, as if beavers gathered the arboretum’s fallen branches after a windstorm and built themselves a fanciful dam.

Like a sophisticated student of art, I try to mentally deconstruct the organic sculpture. Is it a modernist bird’s nest? Is it a commentary on the fragile balance between nature and architecture? Or is pure folly, meant only to delight the eye?

 The tilted branch-blocks rest on ottoman-like cushions of willow. I enter and move from one interconnected space to the next. Peering out of the window openings, I glimpse a maple tree, its new green leaves about to unfurl. Through another portal in the gray-and-brown twig wall I see an early-blooming magnolia. A “skylight” at the top brightens the dark interior with spring’s pure blue sky.

It’s easy to be lured into Dougherty’s rooms, made from saplings grown by the Willow Farm in Pescadaro. Even though the primitive chambers are penetrated by air, light and sound, they feel safe and separate. Time stands still, at least for a few moments.

Solid-looking, yet impermanent. In the end, it is simply a series of large forms, fashioned from ordinary willow otherwise destined for the compost heap. But it gives me quiet comfort.

Catawampus by Patrick Dougherty runs through 2009 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 North Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, (626) 821-3222 or www.arboretum.org.