Turning old instruments into art!

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.      

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.     

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.

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.

Convergence by Noel Brady

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.

Lasseter's Legacy by Noel Brady   

An unrelated yet worth mentioning, Pool wall panel by Noel Brady

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

Mosaic Violin by Mosaic Artist Lisa Calabro 

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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The Bottle Houses, Prince Edward Island

The use of glass in the landscape is something that has interested me for some time, and is something I hope to incorporate into one of my stone projects at some stage. It is buildings like these bottle houses below that make me want to try it out for myself. What an amazing place it is. And as with all inspiring places lies a compelling story of a innovative mind with a creative dream.
 

The Bottle Houses are located at Cap-Egmont, Prince Edward Island, on the gorgeous east coast of Canada. They were built by the late Édouard T. Arsenault.

In 1979 Édouard received a postcard from his daughter of a glass bottle castle she had visited on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, he was so captivated by it, that he was instantly inspired to make his own glass bottle creation. 

Édouard T. Arsenault

That same summer, he started collecting bottles from his community, from a local restaurant, community dance halls, friends, relatives and neighbours. He spent the winter in the basement of his home, cleaning bottles, removing labels and dreaming of his project. In the spring of 1980, at the age of 66, he began construction of his pet project, not quite sure where it was going to take him. As his six-gabled structure was taking form, visitors started coming in. Impressed by his work, they encouraged him to continue and to advertise it as a tourist attraction. And so, in 1981, the first Bottle House was open to the public.

From 1980 to the spring of 1984, he cleverly cemented over 25,000 bottles of various shapes, sizes and colours, into three fantasy-like buildings.

 
Six Gabled House

 

The first bottle house was built in 1980 out of approximately 12,000 bottles, measuring 20 feet x 14 feet with three main sections. Its six gables and the patterns produced by the careful choosing of colours and sizes of bottles truly makes this a unique building. Mr. Arsenault would cement between 300 and 400 bottles per row, using a total of approximately 85 bags of cement over a six month period.

The Round Tavern

 

In 1982, Édouard decided to try his luck at a second building, using approximately 8,000 bottles this time. This tavern-like hexagonal structure was originally used to house the attraction's souvenirs and handcrafted items made by his wife Rosina. Today the tavern houses a large selection of interesting bottles collected by Edouard. Whenever he came across a bottle that had a special feature, he preferred to keep it for display rather than using it in the construction. 

The Chapel

 

The third building constructed by the late Édouard Arsenault is truly a work of art. Approximately 10,000 bottles were transformed in 1983 to become a magnificent little chapel, complete with pews and altar. At the time of his sudden death at the age of 70, in the spring of 1984, Mr. Arsenault still had a bit of work to do, he intended to make the steeples higher and the front pew was not quite completed. At sunset, a symphony of light and colours streams in from behind the altar.

 

Rebuilding Works

Unfortunately, Prince Edward Island’s winters are not very gentle. The railway ties used as foundations did not withstand the effects of the bad winter frosts. Over the years, the buildings deteriorated to the point that they had to be rebuilt.

Between 1992 to 1998, the original buildings were photographed from all angles, carefully measured and then brought down by hand, recovering the glass bottles from the mortar. Four foot foundations were then laid before local bricklayers carefully reconstructed the buildings, using the same bottles as in the original structures and following the same basic designs. The roof and the central cylinder of the second building are the only components that were maintained in their original form.

Altogether over 25 000 recycled bottles were ingeniously cemented together to create the Bottle Houses. The houses are nestled in a number of mature gardens originally created by Édouard. He built the stonework and developed the flower gardens surrounding the buildings at the beginning of his retirement years in 1974.

Étienne Gallant at work
on the large bottle

The stones were picked locally by him and put together to create a peaceful setting for the gardens surrounding the houses that were to be built later. A keen gardener, he also planted all the trees on the property and enjoyed growing a wide variety of perennials and annuals. The present owner, his daughter Réjeanne, also enjoys this task from year to year, with the help of her son Étienne Gallant who also designed and built a large bottle near the road. This new thirteen feet high structure required 2,000 bottles.

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I still have much to discuss on the topic of recycled glass in the garden, but this is a post for another day. If you would like to see more bottle houses check out this link http://www.agilitynut.com/h/otherbh.html lots more wacky bottle creations to be found there.  The photos for this post are from the bottle house website (used with their kind permission of course) Be sure to check out their website for more information and photos. http://www.bottlehouses.com/

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