Partners in Art

As working artists married to each other and sharing an avid enthusiasm for the natural world and working with children, it was truly wonderful to when my husband and I were able to partner on a the commission to create 10 bronze plaques of native plants and their companion animals for the family nature trail at Ann Marie Gardens in Solomons, MD.  

The project began with me creating a series of ink drawings to be the base for each plaque.  These drawings each included a pairing of local plants and animals determined by our client.  A few examples of the original drawings you can see below.  These drawings were then scanned into the computer and "chatter" was added in order to create a carved woodblock print effect.  Perry, my husband and I, studied many, many examples of master woodblock prints as well as some of my own woodblocks in order to capture just the right texture.  The idea was that the plaques were not just art to be looked at, but to be interacted with so that children would be able to better learn about the plants and animals around them.

See and Learn More About Beautiful Ann Marie Gardens Here

This idea came to us from the British tradition of reproducing brass memorial and commemorative plaques found in old churches (typically created between the 13th and 16th centuries).  In this process, a piece of paper is placed over the plaque and then rubbed with a wax crayon in order to record the textures beneath.  If the drawings we made were made into relief sculptures then children could create rubbings of them. This simple process has a delightful slow revelation of the image which adds to the sense of wonder as well as creates time and space for studying and learning from the image.  And besides, who doesn't love to play with crayons

Learn more about Brass Rubbing Here

​Once the drawings were complete and the designs approved, Perry quickly set to work to transform their lines into raised surfaces (about 1/8" high) against a flat background. This "modeling" work was done on the computer and he experimented extensively with 3-D prints to get just the right effects of light and texture while preserving the clarity of the overall image.  He even cast some of these 3-D prints in wax.  But, the amazing thing is with the new digital technologies available, it was possible to go directly from the finalized 3-D computer files directly to bronze with the images being cut into the plaques instead of cast.  Note too that the green background to help harmonize with the natural surroundings is in contrast to the raised polished lines.  This was an intentional part of the design so that even if you chose not to create a rubbing of the images you could still  enjoy seeing them.

Once the plaques were made then it was time to design their stands and labels, this was all Perry's expertise as a professional sculptor.  Working with a local stone cutter, Perry worked with our client to select the stone and finalize the design to insure that the plaques would be easily accessible to all and withstand the weather since they would be installed along a nature trail. Thanks to Perry and our good friend and Perry's assistant, Melvin Johnson, the plaques were installed just in time for Ann Marie Gardens' big fall event: ArtFest.
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I hope you get the chance to see the plaques in person and I hope the joy of working with my husband and such good folks on a project designed to delight the child in all of us shines through!