Spring is well and truly here. So naturally I was thinking about gardens – flower gardens, vegetable gardens… ordinary gardens.
However, I ended up looking online at these amazing places.
How wonderful when people turn their Creativity loose in these extravagant ways. The makers of these gardens were plain working people, not “trained artists”. Some of them had a public mission; others worked in complete secret – even illegally in a couple cases. They’re mostly self-taught makers who worked for years, following their own path and often using found materials and discarded objects. Their decades of obsession and unique vision gave fantastic gifts to the rest of us. Beauty and wonder shared with the whole world.
There are many online links telling the stories of these gardens, and of the people who made them.
Rock Garden of Chandigarh; Chandigarh, India – Artist Nek Chand
Dickyville Grotto and Shrines; Dickyville, Wisconsin – Artist Father Mathias Wernerus
Nuestro Pueblo (Watts Towers); Los Angeles, California – Artist Simon Rodia
Le Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval; Hauterives, France – Artist Ferdinand Cheval
Garden of Eden; Lucas, Kansas – Artist Samuel P. Dinsmoor
Josep Pujuila Labyrinth; Argelaguer, Spain – Artist Josep Pujuila i Vila
Dick and Jane’s Spot; Ellensburg, Washington – Artists Dick Elliot and Jane Orleman
Chauvin Sculpture Garden; Chauvin, Louisiana – Artist Kenny Hill
Dr. Evermore’s Forevertron; North Freedom, Wisconsin – Artist Tom Every
La Maison Picassiette; Chartres, France – Artist Raymond Isidore
