Are you looking for a unique garden accent that helps support artisans in Haiti?
Our shop carries beautiful metal sculptures from recycled oil drums. This traditional cottage industry has continued through four generations and designs are passed from one family to the next. To create a sculpture, the artist removes both ends of the oil drum and burns the inside of the drum to remove any oil residue. Once the drum has cooled, he cuts the metal and pounds it flat to create a metal “canvas”. Using chalk, the artist draws a design on the metal and with only a hammer and chisel, he renders the design.
Each sculpture comes with a weather proof coating and can be used either indoors or in the garden. When placed outside, the metal will turn to a warm, rusty patina. If you prefer the original shiny metal color, then apply a spray-on enamel every year or two.
Would you like to attract more birds to your garden?
Hollowed out gourds make wonderful birdhouses that attract purple martins, chickadees, wrens, nuthatches and other small birds. The tradition of gourd art is over 4,000 years old! The Andean master carvers select their gourds from the northern coast of Peru. After carving off the outer skin, they place the gourds outside to dry in the hot Peruvian sun. The delicate patterns are sketched on to each gourd and carefully carved with hand chisels. Next, the gourd is cut open and the inside is scraped, cleaned and coated to create the birdhouses.
We hope you will visit our store so that you can appreciate these one-of-a-kind designs in person. Happy gardening!
