Skeleton blocks ready and waiting!

Skeleton Blocks

Why do I call them that? Hmmm...no idea, they look like skeletons as I carve them, bony and white and waiting for the "meat" to arrive and give the image shape.

The process of carving is just keeping at it, I usually put the blocks together so the image will flow from one to the other. Then I reinforce the characters with permanent marker, oil the block and go at it. Being quite large, I have to keep at it; some areas are easy and just need clearing. For that, I have very large chisels that make quick work of the cherry plywood.

Other areas get to be quite intricate and, there are holes in my way! I have to cut around the empty spaces, leaning on nothing. Quite challenging at times but kind of fun. I purchased some Kevlar gloves to protect me from sharp edges and they work quite well. They actually just have tiny Kevlar dots on them but enough to protect my hands (knuckles, mostly) from scrapes against the sharp wood.

Here they are! Hurry! The garden awaits!!!

The "empty" Fantastic Garden!
Keep an eye on the blog to see it fill up with wonder!

Fantastic Garden Headquarters: http://puzzleprints.blogspot.com

As they trickle in, you get to meet them!

Important Dates and Notes

Only three weeks to go to the deadline! August 31st is fast approaching.

Please send your image information as soon as you know what you are doing via this page:
http://puzzleprints.blogspot.com/p/2013-fantastic-garden.html

Three more contributions

Ah, let's see, I placed the wildflower where a Mojave wildflower might grow after a spring of sporadic showers and a bit of luck. Sometimes the desert explodes with an incredible variety of color from the blooms of wildflowers but if you think about an excursion for too long...you missed them! The harsh desert dries them out within days. This one apparently likes the mulch in the dry trunk and the light shade of a Tamarisk tree.

The garden hose I placed in the convoluted leaves of our very natural Mojave Yucca, which sends out shoots with wonderful blooms in spring and throughout summer. Tough little plant feeds hummingbirds and various seed eaters help spread the tasty pods.

And finally, the ladybird beetles are everywhere here too! The clever arrangement reminded me of the prickly pear cactus fruit, so I placed them on a growing leaf under a maturing tasty fruit. Careful with the spines! The Paiute Indians used yucca leaves to both grasp and brush the fruit until no spines remained. The red mature prickly pears are very sweet!

Nancy Osadchuk - Calgary Alberta CANADA

I find my eyes are starting to play tricks on me and I don't like that! I chose this wildflower that has more common names than it needs. Prairie Smoke, Old Man's Whiskers, Sleepy Heads, Blood Drops, etc…otherwise Geum triflorum. I grew up in the country and just have to have some wildflowers in my garden and this is one of my favorites; one way to get country into the city! I did not proof it except with rubbing but painted it with ink to make the carving easier to see.

Rich Fowler - San Francisco Bay Area USA

http://www.BoardingAllRows.com

The garden hose never fails to kink or wrap itself around a bush, a clay pot, itself, or my leg. Many thanks to Maria for organizing this wonderful project.

Carole Carroll - Seattle Washington USA

This trio of ladybird beetles will protect the garden from harmful aphids.

Fantastic Garden Headquarters: http://puzzleprints.blogspot.com

Meanwhile, back at the office...

Blog Page Updates

I try to faithfully update the Participant Page to reflect the current status of things so if you wonder where we are in the project, here it is:
http://puzzleprints.blogspot.com/p/participant-list.html

Also, the Accountability or Accounting page has been updated to reflect that I ORDERED THE PAPER!
Yay! Hurray! The last big expense is mailing back the prints so I think we will be close to scratch again. Excellent!
http://puzzleprints.blogspot.com/p/accountability.html

Blocks Trickling In!

Your lovely blocks are all coming in now at a furious pace and finding their partners in "the box". "The Box" is simply, er, a box where they all mingle until I am able to place them in their proper places. I am one carving day away from being able to start that process; the last skeleton block is about ready!

36 blocks are in and I have 34 colophon entries. Don't forget to fill out the Info as soon as you have an image on the works.
http://puzzleprints.blogspot.com/p/2013-fantastic-garden.html

That's it! More photos of blocks coming soon.

Only four weeks to go to the deadline August 31st!

Fantastic Garden Headquarters: http://puzzleprints.blogspot.com

Who? And more tiny dwellers...

Important Dates and Notes

Only four weeks to go to the deadline! August 31st is fast approaching.

Please send your image information as soon as you know what you are doing via this page:
http://puzzleprints.blogspot.com/p/2013-fantastic-garden.html

Two More Tiny Creatures!

These two contributions from our friends in Brazil are just marvelous additions to the Fantastic Garden. I placed the familiar fairy on the flowering Purple Sage and just under the blooms of one of our Chatalpa trees, a hybrid of the Mojave Willow that is said to take winters a bit better. The flowers are magical, much like the fairy!
The tiny elf under his mushroom had to be placed in the nestling branch of a fallen elm, away from danger and all the big things that lurk in the garden. When I walk my "real" garden I often marvel at what lies afoot under the safety of the canopy.

Fernanda Maria de Castro Solla - Santos, Sao Paulo BRAZIL

Maria do Rosario de Castro Solla - Santos, Sao Paulo BRAZIL

Who?

I just can't help myself! The friendly and ever-watchful owl simply sits on the very strange pedestal provided by the Cereus chalybaeus. This night flowering long stemmed cactus is hardy and very big! The strange growths are simply stems that never grew, whether because of freezing, stunting or just a caprice of the plant. This particular cactus started out as a two-inch potted plant in my father's apartment balcony. When he moved in with us, we brought it and planted it in our desert garden. Our memorial Cereus is now 7-foot tall and continues to spread and flourish (are those two tiny hearts in the stem in the background?).

Anyhow, here is Mike Morris and his winking owl.

Mike Morris - Spokane Washington USA
mikemorris877 at gmail.com
Here, just outside Spokane and facing Mt Spokane, many members of my family have worked to create a colorful, fragrant, bird-filled garden that we love and enjoy throughout the year.  Owls are frequently heard in the neighboring pine forests.  They are special birds.  I wanted to include one that is winking at all the contributors to this international effort.