Art for Artichokes

Alexandra in her vegetable garden

Kokeshiflies

   With a spring itch to dig in the dirt, local artist, Alexandra Gjurasic, asked me to help her start a vegetable garden.  We did a consultation at their home to discuss ways to maximize growing and beauty potential of their small yard in the shadow of Los Volcanos.  Of the ideas explored, Alexandra started with a simple vegetable garden in an ignored corner of the yard.  Mother Nature Gardens gave structural help to complete the small project: creating an action plan, braking up dirt and creating a catch basin to bring stormwater from the roof to the vegetables, bringing in compost and mulch to build strong soil, and bringing drip irrigation to the area.   Alexandra and her husband, Steve, planted herbs, and annual and perenial vegetables, added a lattice, and generally tinkered like gardeners like to do.  The area, once only hot, desolate gravel, now breathes live into the livingroom window and calls the couple’s toddler to come and explore the excitement of the natural world. 

   I gladely accepted one of Alexandra’s watercolor pieces in return for my work.  I chose a piece from her series of “Kokeshiflies”.  Throughout this series, Alexandra creates flutters of butterflies with the bodies of Japanese dolls and wings like stain glass windows.  They seem to burst forth, surrounding and mesmorizing the viewer like bright ideas that flash and then disappear.  On the 2-D canvas, however, the Kokeshiflies remain suspended in the moment before they flutter past the viewer into the wind that carries them away.  In my livingroom, the remind me of the rush of possibilities each new moment brings.  You can view other works by Alexandra Gjurasic and learn where she is currently displaying her work at gjurasicpark.blogspot.com.

Ghetto Gardens

     Over the long winter caring for my newborn son, I watched the raw, urban street life unfold 20 feet before my front window.  I survived two years deep in the bush of Zambia, Africa; I’ve backpacked for a week at a time in wilderness; I’ve even shot my own meat.  I have accomplished a lot to make me think I was tough, but street tough made me pace the floors in a panic.  When we realized we were two country folks desperately out of place, my husband and I impulsively thought to move far, far away.  The slumping housing market would not support such hopes however and after three months trying to sell our home, we sought a new goal.  If we could not leave our neighborhood to a healthier environment to raise our son, the only solution left was to help transform our neighborhood.

     Idealist that I am, I came up with an elaborate plan title “Children’s Day; Because every child deserves education, health, and safety.”  It was going to be a day’s event at a neighborhood church helping families become library users, sign up for public health insurance, grow gardens, and meet local law enforcement.  I sales pitched and networked until I sat down to a meeting with an accomplished community planner.  She liked my idea and helped me make an action plan to realize it.  We discussed fund raising, language barriers, and everything this expert had learned through failed events.  I became to chew on my lip thinking about my demanding four month old, my sleep deprivation due to night feeding, and my part time work.  Which one could I blame for coming up with such an elaborate idea?  

    I had to adapt my plan to something more likely to succeed.  The way in which I can make the greatest positive impact is to do what I love to do – garden.  In hindsight, I remembered the wisdom to start small and start where you are at.  Already good friends with our neighbors to the north, I started there.  Over a months time, we turned a small area of plastic and gravel into a vegetable garden – planning, clearing, turning soil, adding compost, and finally building a quaint fence.  Every family member, the mother, father, and five boys played a part in the project.  Now, my only involvement is to visit and show excitement for germinating seeds and blooming tomato plants. 

     I am creating positive change in my neighborhood.  True, not every little one has the Cosby-house experience because of me.  Yet, I made lasing impact with one family and the success of that endeavor encourages me to help another family nearby.