Spring Garden 2013, 1

The narcissuses have been blooming for the last couple of weeks.

Wildflowers cover the fields. 

The apple tree that bloomed in December hangs on tenaciously to its apples. I tried one--they taste terrible. Very bitter. A bitter tree.

I'll trim all the apples off so that it might blossom again soon.
Despite cool, rainy weather, I try to get out in the garden to work. If not, I work on plant containers. I finished three mosaicked containers--two olive oil cans and one paint bucket (in the middle):

I played with different design elements: circles, medallions and stacked squares. Now they need to be planted.

The kitchen patio has become a nursery. 

Succulents are stick-in-the-muds. Just break off a branch and put in wet dirt. So easy. Consequently, every container in sight has been planted, including a couple pairs of old tennis shoes. 

I tried covering a plastic container with bamboo from the garden.

The tie is from my sack of seams that I cut out of flea market clothing. I then turned to 2-liter plastic water bottles cut in half and glued on bamboo. 

Admittedly, they don't have durability, maybe a couple of seasons, but they add interest. 







And sitting on the grass in front of my house--an old toilet and bathtub. A sink will soon join them because a friend decided to remodel her bathroom and she knows I recycle. Man, am I going to have fun! If you should be wondering what I'm going to do, consider my bidet.

Yes, Spring is finally here, my favorite time of year.

NB: Blogger is playing tricks on the font...I give up.

Containing Things--Mosaics and Otherwise

Since summer heat was not conducive to mosaicking (no air conditioner by my work table), it was time to finish a few plant containers. Here are two pots made from 3-liter olive oil cans.

The sides of the container on the right have wing motifs suggested by broken tiles and in line with the wing theme inspiring two stitching projects on which I'm currently working. 

They will sit in the wall spaces around the patios.

An aside. A fair number of rocks and stones can be found out in the fields so I collect the bigger rocks into piles and my husband occasionally remembers to bring them home on the tractor. Recently, he said peevishly, "I see you haven’t used the rocks I brought you."  Ok,  ok. 

I now have a rock pile sculpture on the kitchen veranda, unscathed by the big hailstorm. And two new containers grace the stairs to the roof. The lineup:

              The first one sports a band of circles and a top border of tiny pieces.

The design for the next container started as (wild) flying geese, however, the wing theme inspired me to add extra triangles to create a flurry of wings. 

A flying geese design in light green echoes the white wings. At least the mosaic containers stood up to the hailstorm and I suppose my poor ragged plants will manage to revive with the pleasant autumn weather. Now I better get to planting the new additions.

And Best Wishes to all celebrating Aïd.

News Update: The Tunisian government is now officially in limbo although it continues to function. The Constitutional Assembly's mandate ended on October 22. They had one year to write a constitution (which they could have accomplished in four to six months), but, they have as yet to produce a final document. It appears they appreciate their hefty salaries. The ruling religious party claims legitimacy because they were elected. Voters say they voted for a group of people to write a constitution within a year. Elections have been proposed for June 2013, however, who will organize (and control) that process remains unclear. So far protests and demonstrations have been peaceful, with the exception of the lynching of the leader of the Tataouine Nida Tounes Party (an opposition party) on October 18th by ruling party demonstrators. An unheard of horror that provoked anger among Tunisians, especially since nobody has been arrested despite a large number of witnesses. In any case, nobody wants a vacuum in power, which could lead to a civil war. And so the lid remains on and things are contained...for the moment.

Gasping Garden

My garden gasped through August, revived with four days of rain and slightly lower temperatures in September, which gave a second spring.

Now it's gasping again during the Indian summer with temperatures in the 90°s F. (35-38° C.), dropping only slightly at night. The warm weather doesn’t fool me—I know it’s time to prepare for winter, so the roof got it’s coat of water-proofing (the back-breaking inconvenience of a flat roof), and then out came the paint cans and brushes. While my husband takes care of repairs, the shutters, doors, gates, and railings have been getting my attention. 


I like the freshly painted shutters--no dust. That will last for about a week.

Have you noticed that people on Pinterest have whole boards about gates? Which made me appreciate my no-nonsense garden gates made of pallet wood and freshly painted. 



Besides being kind of cute, they serve to keep our farm dogs off the patios and out of the raised flower beds.
A few new objets trouvés (sounds nice in English, fancy way of saying ‘found junk’) have been added to my kitchen terrace garden. I discovered a bicycle chain and sprocket in a field. I resisted the urge to paint the sprocket (round rusty metal object on left, below).

                                   I like the sculptural effect of the chain.

On the right, an old bird cage got painted along with the shutters. Good plant protection from the cats. One of my cats just walks into, onto, and over potted plants--even prickly succulents. 

For this project, I cut wires on the side of the cage to be able to open it up and insert pots.

           Of course, I must point out that my bidet (which began here) is looking better than ever. My dentist stopped by for a (friendly) visit and when he saw it, he decided to put an old sink and bathtub in his garden to plant. As I've mentioned before here, Tunisians love to accumulate and now he's pleased that he kept them.

On the left you can see a rusty piece of wrought iron railing that showed up out of nowhere. I’ve got to get a grip on the junk around here!

Mosaic Technicalities

Several questions have been raised in the Comments section of a previous post  showing that mosaics interest readers. Therefore, I propose to expound on mosaic-making technique as I understand it. Keep in mind that I am self-taught and this may be all wrong.

First of all, the best bases for me are terra cotta and clay pots, which can last 25 or 30 years in an outdoor environment. Adding the tiles and cement should extend their durability by years. I don’t bother with wood, as it has low durability in my area. However, recycling is important and I have been gluing mosaic pieces onto metal paint cans and buckets and then grouting with cement (yeah, just plain Portland cement, no sand added), which seems to work in the short run. I would expect those containers to last a minimum of five years, but eventually they will rust from the inside. Same can be said for the oil tin cans I use. Since I cement the bottoms, they could last longer because the cement and tiles form the container. Time will tell—I’m rather new at this. I’ve been toying with the idea of using plastic detergent containers in order to recycle them. Cheap plastic Christmas tree balls make cool “orbs” that can be hung in the garden.    

          Warning: wear a mask when working with cement, and watch out for your back—the larger pots can be heavy. One must choose carefully where they will be placed because once planted, they’re difficult to move, needless to say.

          On the creative side, I never sketch mosaic designs and I find that I have nothing to say about the design process in my journal. Remembering that it’s “just” a flower pot is liberating. A couple of simple rules: make many and make every design different. I reflect on possible designs and work it out on the pot with a few penciled lines.  Generally, one design leads to the next. 

           I cut one color of tiles (usually white) with nippers to get rectangular or triangular pieces of the same size (more or less) to work into a design. Then I add the fill-in tiles, which are smashed with a hammer. One should use "thinslip" to adhere tiles to the surface for outdoor projects and there's a special mosaic grout. I haven't found them locally so I use a very strong glue (and keep the windows open or glue outside) and use cement for the grouting. Seems to work. I've also seen resin used, which  makes the mosaic lighter, however, I can't vouch for its durability. I darken the grouting cement with a black paint product used for mixing wall paint--once again, seems to work. I've also used white cement for grouting if the tiles are dark. Other colors can be added.

          Having saved tiny pieces for awhile, I’ve accumulated enough to use in parts of designs. Here's a floral motif: 

    There still remains room for a few more pots going up the stairs to the roof.

For information and free instructions see Mosaic Art Supply.
For inspiration check Mosaic Art Now.

Smilin'

Despite gray skies, wind and rain, everyone's smilin' as new additions appear in the patio garden of the tranquil Province of MulticoloredPieces.

The variegated green tiles come from a box of left over tiles used in our kitchen decor over thirty years ago. I felt that the box had sat forgotten in a corner of the garden long enough.

If this should seem to be a repetitive use of green, I'd like to express my theory on plant containers. They exist to enhance plants, yet, the plants should enhance the pot as well. Plant and container should work together. And if possible, the container should be made of recycled materials. I've seen some marvelously colored pots, however, they didn't quite work with the plants. Eventually, I'll work in some soft blues and yellows, depending on the tiles I find. 
                  The steps going up to the roof could not remain unadorned.

And as there are enough tiles for a few more pots, 

I may make it to the top of the stairs.

                                               Another new arrival:

The lovely green tiles that have such depth of color came from the trash pile of an apartment complex where someone renovated their kitchen. 

I remember when the apartments were built some thirty-five years ago. The tiles were made in Spain. Such treasures!

And the bidet planter begins to look less like a bathroom fixture and more like an elegant patio accessory.

Unruly Utensils

The kitchen gets a lot of traffic. Few industrial or convenience foods appear on grocery shelves in Tunisia and if they exist, the price is prohibitive. This means that in any functioning household, someone must cook from scratch everyday, usually the mother. Every day. The good news: obesity problems do not plague Tunisian society and Tunisian cuisine is healthy.

       When I first arrived in Tunisia, my father-in-law would set off for market every morning with his empty basket and return home with fresh meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables that were in season. Every day. And my mother-in-law spent the morning in the kitchen preparing delicious main dishes, salads, and deserts for the day, enough for the family and any possible visitors that might appear at the door. Every day. All the recipes were in her head—no cookbooks. My husband says that those were the good ol’ days, and heaves a heavy sigh. I say he didn’t appreciate his mother’s good cooking when it was in front of him, but, such is human nature—we don’t appreciate what we have.

        Because it was the man’s job to fill up the basket for his family every day, there existed an unwritten code between vendors and shoppers—a sort of male code of honor. Produce is sold from crates and the shopper asks for the quantity needed and the vendor does the necessary choosing and weighing. My father-in-law never came home with so much as a rotten tomato because he knew the vendor and expected to be well served if the vendor wanted his (male) estime and future business. A good system—it worked.

       Then women began to take over the shopping duties and the vendors became sly, slipping in sub-standard produce. When I shop once a week, I go to vendors who allow me to pick out the produce. It’s a constant battle—no more honor code. Something has broken down. In addition, prices have risen steeply due to the chaos and uncertainty in the region. In the end, we are thankful that the produce remains available.

Cupboard door

       Back to the kitchen where I find myself every morning, cooking. Every day. I have stream-lined the process and have a set of recipes in my head. However, I require organization in the kitchen for things to go smoothly. This brings me to the subject of the unruly utensils. I could put them in a drawer, but then I would have to fish in the drawer every time I needed a wooden spoon or a ladle or some other item.

My solution: a pot painted to match the cupboards, which sits on the counter and keeps utensils upright and within easy reach. Recently, the bottom fell out of this 30-year-old pot, so I glued and cemented it back together. It didn’t look so great; it was worn.

So I mosaicked it. Of course, I could have drilled a hole in the bottom and planted it, but, those unruly utensils were driving me nuts!

A new life. I think the pot can go another 30 years. And order has been restored in my kitchen. Now if the current government could restore a semblance of order as well…

Winter Garden, Part 1

During an exhibition of my art quilts, someone noted that I had different periods. Well, no. Rather, different strands of thought pervade my work and keep coming forward. The strands intertwine, sometimes linked by technique, sometimes by color, or sometimes by ideas. For example, the War and Revolution theme persists, and connects to my strands of thought on social and political comment. Counterbalancing these themes, another, more peaceful, strand of thought concerns The Garden.

         At the most basic level, The Garden represents my own garden. As I am blessed to live on a small farm with a luxury of space, my garden is large enough to contain a small pomegranate orchard, which now sleeps. In the meantime, other plants put on a fanfare in the winter garden.

         It’s a good year for the jade plants. These 25-year-old plants have gone wild with flowers that draw the bees.

                       I can’t remember having seen them put on such a display. 
                  Other succulents are getting ready to bloom, ready to burst forth.

                                      There are a few winter roses as well.

                                  New additions to the patio plant containers:

The cats got curious and pointed out that bloggers post pictures of their pets all the time. Ok, ok, I got it...