My yard has been the most worked on "art piece" since 1998. For the first two years I thought of it almost as a "sentence." Something I had to do because it came with the house and I just could not mow the whole darn thing! But something that was taking me away from my "real art life."

I started with the largest hill as, with severe arthritis, that hill would kill me during each mow. I had hired a young man to mow each week but, being a typical teenager, he did not take the care I wanted it to have and look like. Mowed over the first flowers I planted and missed too many corners with his rider mower. At times, since then, I have wondered if making the hill may have been worse than just mowing it! Little did I know about gardening...

I also started what was to become my first "Altered Book" then. I kept a journal of what I was doing with the yard and what I wanted to do with it. It became a respository for writing, notes, lists, seed packets, plant tags, drawings and anything else pertinent. Last year I started another version where I am gluing in dried flowers grown here.

Now, here is the beginning of a website version of the garden journal. The garden or yard has (I have not quite discerned whether it is a "garden" or a "yard with many flower beds") taught me much about life and the pursuit of happiness. It has given me much more than I have given it and hopefully, through time and updates, this website will some of reflect this.

Stay tuned and come back as you will....

Front of House
Buddha Tire
Back yard
Deck
Pines & new hill

Everything within this site is © copyright by the artist. Usable with permission only.
Updated quarterly. Last update-August 28, 2004. Contact: sandi thulin kohler