Saturday, August 25, 2012

Art in the Garden at the Bellevue Botanical Garden

Nigel and I went to the Art in the Garden festival at the Bellevue Botanical Garden on Saturday. This was the third annual Art in the Garden, a show that features the sculptures and garden art of 25 Northwest artists, both on display and for sale, some simple, some elaborate, in metal, wood, blown and fused glass, ceramics, bronze and other outdoor-appropriate materials. The day started off cool, but warmed up rather quickly since it was very sunny.

I've been wanting to see the new suspension bridge at the Bellevue Botanical Garden for a while, ever since Mother's Day this year when it opened. Given that he has an engineering bent, Nigel wanted to see it too.

Welcome to Jurassic Park!

Nigel went ahead of me. I accused him, more than once, of deliberately shaking the bridge. Poor man, falsely accused! He was outraged. Although quite sturdy and made with enormous cables, the bridge is much more bouncy than I thought it would be.

After checking out the bridge, Nigel found a shady spot to sit and read his Kindle, while I made the rounds of the artists. There was a lot of glasswork, which is understandable, given we live in the glass art capital of the world, and some of it was really beautiful. But it can get a bit monotonous after a while. In fact, there were so many glass artists there I completely lost track of whose work I was photographing!









I did think this was a really cute bug vignette!

Loved these glass leaves!

I don't know where I'd put this full-size decorated torso, but it was pretty cool!

This red agave was the size of a real agave, but quite a bit more expensive -- $430.



I could see these huge herons beside my stream!

There was a dragon on top of the Visitor's Center!

And some owls too!



Wouldn't this woodpecker look great on the side of a tree?

I want this rooster too!

Loved this earthenware pot!
Another cool torso, with mosaics on it!


I just adore mosaic art, and these mandalas really appealed to me! (I should have bought one.)

There were faux cave paintings as well.

Everyone admired this dangling mosaiced mermaid.
Nice detail on a metal trellis













I'd love some mosaic stepping stones like these, but they were for sale as a complete set for $300, and I didn't want the birdbath.

I also managed to wander around the gardens and get a few shots of plants!


Was this plant with big leaves Astilboides? Darmera? Nope, the tag under it said Peltoboykinia tellimoides x watanabei.

Tricyrtis flowers are so small and hard to spot, but so sweet and delicate when you see them up close.



This blackberry lily had the most enormous seedpods!

Nice foliage combo! Golden Hakone grass and Daphne odora (possibly 'Mae-Jima')

It was hard to miss the large crowd around local plant guru and media personality Ciscoe Morris, who was leading a group around the garden, pointing out his favorite plants and looking very hot (temperature-wise, that is!)





Artist Info (for artists whose work is featured here, there were lots more whose business cards I didn't get -- click on names to reach websites):

Marcus Harper, glass artist
marcusharper@comcast.net
253-517-8130

Driftwood Creations
Carol Bryant
360-445-2182

Dean Tile and Design
Carol Rose Dean
info@deantile.com
360-331-1295

Jesse Kelly, glass artist
jessekellyglass@gmail.com
206-354-7368

Abraxas Crow Company
Gunter Reimnitz
Forge/Weld/Cut/Bend Steel Sculptures
reimnitz@olypen.com
360-379-3281

Unique Ceramics
Barbara Wyatt
BarbBQ3@aol.com
425-478-3801

Lance H. Carleton, sculptor
lancecarleton@comcast.net
206-617-9007

Mad Mosaics
Carman Komm
madmosaics@aol.com
253-250-3253

The show runs on Sunday, August 26 as well, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.