Shaping space: Fence Jars & Edging Lawns

Much of my work life was spent outdoors tending lawns and gardens. One of my daily jobs was to keep the edging of the lawn clean. Weed eaters, clippers, and shearers were my tools. I was shaping space on an acre by acre scale. This system of organization infiltrated my sense of design. Setting up symmetrical borders filled with asymmetrical designs is a gardening scheme that I replicate on my pots.

The clean look and smell of freshly trimmed grass is hard to beat. There is something very satisfying about having a lawn trimmed within its borders. With nature this is a temporary state. When flowers pop through their boarders they show that having control over nature is fleeting. I like the small pink bloom that pushes through this fence in the image below. This last batch of jars is all about nature pushing through borders. These are about a foot tall with slip trailed fence patterns and drawings.

I'm not sure of the duration but there are larger cycles of ideas that run through my work. Its been about four years since I last made jars.  I seem to work on an idea for a year or two before I let it rest for awhile. I'm ready to pull jars out for a new round of innovation.