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| Brass pipe water feature at the Philadelphia Flower Show's 'Jazz Garden' 2008 . photo by Bérénice |
So this is a post that will strike different ‘chords' withdifferent people. For some this is art, but others may see this as decimation of abeautiful instrument. But before you begin to grieve for them, to my knowledge allthe instruments shown here were beyond repair.
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| Garden Piano at Hagal Farm |
The above picture is of the Garden Piano in the gardens of HagalFarm, my parents' holistic retreat in West Cork, Ireland. I have written aboutthis in a previous blog post which you can find here.
Recently I have become aware of a number of other gardenpianos. I like to think that after reading my garden piano post, readers ranoff to drag their old broken pianos out into their gardens, but I am sure thatthis is unlikely.
The Piano water feature below as well as the brass pipe water feature above were part of the 'Jazz Garden' at the 2008 Philadelphia Flower Show.
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| Piano water feature at thePhiladelphia Flower Show's 'Jazz Garden' 2008 . photo by Bérénice |
In recent years, with people becoming more environmentally friendlyand looking for green alternatives in the landscape, recycled or found objectart seems to be more popular than ever. With found object art, musical instrumentparts on occasion find their way into art pieces.
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| Artist Noel Brady at work in his bush studio near Emu Park, Queensland, Australia |
One artist that takes 'musical themed, found object art' toanother level is Capricorn Coast based artist Noel Brady.
Born in Ballarat, Victoria Noel completed his Diploma of Artsand Design at the Ballarat School of Mines and Industries Art School beforeembarking on a long career as a secondary school art teacher in both Victoriaand Queensland.
He retired to his Emu Park bush studio in 2004 toconcentrate on his own artwork with a particular focus on sculpture. Noel workslargely with recycled timber, clay and metal - but has a particular penchantfor reimagining old piano parts.
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| Convergence by Noel Brady |
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| Symphony under construction by Noel Brady |
Noel has had moderate success to date, exhibitingin Rockhampton, Gladstone, Yeppoon, Emu Park and Goombungee, and has sold worksinto private collections in San Diego, Sydney, Canberra, Griffith,Dandenong, Brisbane, Cairns, Rockhampton and Toowoomba.
Hepresently lives and works in his bush studio on a small acreage near Emu Parkon the Capricorn Coast, and regularly exhibits new work in a smallprivately-run gallery in the seaside town.
Lots more of Noel's artwork can be found through his website http://www.noelbrady.com.au be sure to check it out.
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| Lasseter's Legacy by Noel Brady |
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| An unrelated yet worth mentioning, Pool wall panel by Noel Brady |
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| Mosaic Guitar byMosaic Artist Lisa Calabro |
An artist who takes a very different approach to turningmusical instruments into art is American artist Lisa Calabro of Crooked MoonStudio in Warwick, Rhode Island. Lisa has transformed old instruments intoartworks by mosaicing them. See more of her lovely mosaics on her website http://crookedmoonstudio.com
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| Mosaic Violin by Mosaic Artist Lisa Calabro |
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| Mosaic Guitar by Mosaic Artist Lisa Calabro |
Thanks to both Noel and Lisa for allowing me to share their artwork. Thanks also to Bérénice for the use of her photographs of the Philadelphia Flower Show.
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