Bowling Ball Garden Art... Who knew it could be so fun??

Bowling Ball Art for the GARDEN

Bowling Ball Garden Art:  The Four Gentlemen

by

Lauren Espinoza

About two years ago, I began collecting old, worn-out bowling balls to create my own garden art.  Glass covered balls and adorable lady bugs were the norm for bowling ball garden art on the internet.  I wanted something different, something unique.  

The hunt was on!  However, bowling balls were hard to find.  I found a few in garage sales, traded a nice one for one that was old and cracked, and found one in a pile of rubbish.  I plopped my treasures down in my garden waiting for inspiration to transform my "trash" into works of art. 

My Trash Treasures

Inspiration was not a frequent guest at my home for an entire year!  When my family decided to move from Texas to Colorado, my husband was very patient as I packed up my lovely bowling balls for the long trip.  My blank canvases went from adorning one garden to another.  There they sat for another 9 months. 

Primed and ready for some paint and creativity

Inspiration has a funny way of tracking me down and asserting itself when I least expect it.  It was a beautiful, crisp Saturday morning when I stepped outside to survey my yard and porch.  Spring had arrived and it was time to make plans.  Inspiration was waiting for me that day as I glanced down at my bowling balls in the front garden bed.  Spring Fever and Inspiration met and my new project was set into motion.  I ran downstairs and found some exterior primer among the collection of left over paint cans.  
  



Knowing that these works of art would adorn someone's garden, I looked for a garden theme and realized that the four seasons would be perfect.  I started researching the four seasons and found The Four Gentlemen.  The Four Gentlemen represent the four seasons (orchid for spring, the bamboo for summer, the chrysanthemum for autumn, and the plum blossom for winter) and have been used in Chinese art for centuries.  

Mounted on candle holders and texture added

Most of my artwork contains texture in some form.  My garden art was no exception.  I used Flexible Modeling Paste to create an interesting texture on the bowling balls.  Three of the balls were mounted on bamboo candle holders.  These gave the bowling balls a great variance in height and added some interesting perspective once the balls were placed in a garden.

Base colors

I wanted to start with a good marbleized color.  The next step was to pain each of The Four Gentlemen symbols on the balls.  This took some more research, as the symbols online had slight variations depending on the artist.  Not knowing Chinese, I wanted to make sure my art was as accurate as possible.  

Bamboo - Summer

I started with the bamboo.  It was fun to paint and gave me the opportunity to establish the style of the pieces.  The Chrysanthemum, Plum Blossom, and Orchid followed.  Each piece had its own challenges.  Each of the paintings was then covered in a high gloss glaze.  

Orchid - Spring

Chrysanthemum - Autumn

Plum Blossom - Winter

The final step was to cover each in a clear, protective polyurethane to protect them against the elements.  The final product was gorgeous.  These bowling balls are on sale through my Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Life-Art-Studio/
Commissions are also welcome.

The Four Gentlemen represent the four seasons (orchid for spring, the bamboo for summer, the chrysanthemum for autumn, and the plum blossom for winter).

Copyright © 2013 Life's Casual Observer blog, Lauren Espinoza

Fun Garden Beds

I have a tremendous amount of amusement creating fun and new decorative garden beds in our garden.  Today, I wanted to share a simple "How-To" of building a very cool flower/garden bed.

We obtained a great supply of old, heavy fencing that is weathered and worn.  This lumber made the perfect material for one of my favorite garden beds.  I started by cutting the fence posts into varying sizes from 6" to 14" in length.

I then started digging a design in the yard in the shape I wanted my garden bed.  

Once the garden border has been completed, it is time to lay a layer of newspapers... not too thick.  You want enough that it helps with weed control but not too much so that it decomposes and allows the plant roots to grow below.  I put about three to four sheets thick.  I have read on other blog sites and internet sites that some people put the newspaper as thick as 8 sheets thick.

It's important to water the newspaper thouroughly... making sure the newspaper is good and wet!

It's then time to put down the gardening soil.  We usually put in our own home grown compost, but had run out.  We bought some good Vegetable/garden soil at Lowe's.  Be sure to put a thick amount of soil to allow for root growth.  We put 6-8 inches.

The garden bed is now ready for planting.  We planted cauliflower, cilantro, spinach, and broccoli in this garden bed

Copyright © 2012 Life's Casual Observer blog, Lauren Espinoza