Friday, May 14, 2010

Sweet Little Garden Break


So I haven't been out in the garden as much as I need or promised myself to be.

I've been involved with a mural project for my children's Elementary school and it's eating up all my time and energy. I'm a little nervous about how it is going to turn out. I bought a table saw to cut up Masonite into roughly 7 x 11 inch rectangles. I designed the mural based on questions I asked the fifth graders about their school experiences - favorite subject, favorite book, what they learned in school etc...

Each fifth grader is going to get one of the small Masonite pieces with a section of the mural on it, kind of like a puzzle. The finished murals will be 35 inches high x 66 inches wide and there are four murals. All the pieces are cut. They just need to be primed, gessoed, and painted with the line-work. The final, color painting will be done next Friday, ArtsDay at the school. I'm very nervous.

I took a break for fresh air and a chance to check out the garden. This is a blossom of Calycanthus floridus, also known as Sweet Bubby bush, or Carolina Allspice. The flowers have a leathery, stiff feel to them, and the aroma is pleasant but a little odd. It reminds me of cider or overripe apples.

6 comments:

  1. That sounds so cool, Lynn! I hope you'll share photos! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd love to see the photos too! We did something similar at our school a few years ago with the seasons on our playground as the subjects...the kids went through the process as you've described and painted 4 24"x48" murals~ they are amazing and still hang in the school library. I'm certain yours will be a huge success and do hope you share the final pieces. Have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, it's beautiful. We call it sweet shrub and make sachets from the blossoms. We got ours years ago when we toured Monticello.

    I'm sure the mural will be grand, would love to see it!

    xoSherry

    ReplyDelete
  4. I feel completely confident that the mural will be amazing and I look forward to seeing some photos HERE!
    (You are the kind of parent that teachers long for!!!)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm sure the mural will be a success - and I just love your garden pictures too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh! My grandmother (the other one, not the one who had a tillandsia) had a Sweet Bubby bush in her yard. It had an overwhelmingly, almost sickening, sweet smell. But picking the flowers and inhaling that scent was part of exploring and playing in her yard when there wasn't much else to do as a kid.
    ^_^
    Beautiful photo you got of it!

    ReplyDelete