When I was a kid, lawn decor was pretty much limited to pink flamingos, painted-tire planters,
and the occasional gnome.  For the truly sophisticated landscaper (and there were none in my neighborhood), perhaps a cement St. Francis.  Those with lawn decorations were different from the rest of us, and much to my Mother’s dismay, I envied them.

But lately I’ve noticed that yard decor is getting hip.  Fountains and flags and sculptures are cropping up like weeds in neighborhoods everywhere.  It’s not uncommon to peer over a fence and glimpse a genuine one-of-a-kind treasure that transcends the typical.  And that’s just what an everyday diva is looking for - something different, something to set her green space apart from everyone else’s.  Yard Art.

Like Gazing Ball (bowling) on Coat Rack, for example.

That’s the title of one of the dozens of original works of yard art you’ll find at the online gallery of Ora Mae Swafford, a 69-year old great grandmother from Boaz, Kentucky.  “I have had no formal art lessons.” she told me.  “I just one day discovered I could paint, and have been painting ever since. The Lord has given me the talent. I try to use it for him when I can.” !--break-->

She’s used her talent to create dozens of gazing/bowling balls hand painted with flowers so real you can almost smell them.  And yes, many are displayed perched on brass coat racks, planted upside down in the garden.  She also paints on rocks, driftwood, saws, gourds, even leaves.

“I do sell some of it so I will have money to buy supplies, but that is the part I care less about. I would rather just keep it. I just love to paint!”  You can view her creations on her website at http://www.artbymae.net/.  The site isn’t commercial, so if you want one of Ora Mae’s treasures you may have to make a road trip.

If Kentucky isn’t in your travel plans and you are still yearning for bowling ball art, you’ll find some closer to home from the hands of Damon Lusky. 

I was tickled by the kinetic “Newton’s Cradle” he created from bowling balls, on display recently at the home of Atlanta artist Susan Bridges.  Damon, who typically welds organic and floral pieces, said he thought it would be fun to try a sculpture that was also a toy.  “When you build something from your heart, it’s just icing on the cake if someone else enjoys it, and loves it enough to want to take it home and live with it.”

In addition to Damon’s kinetic sculpture, you’ll find dinosaurs and spiders among the sculpted flowers on his website at www.studio308.50megs.com.  You can also see his work at Matilda’s Enchanted Cottage in Alpharetta, and the Dawsonville Center for the Arts.

What I love about these two artists is that there is nothing intrinsically artistic about bowling balls.  Using their imagination and found objects, they’ve and created something unique and beautiful.

Why not experiment with your own diva-inspired creation for your yard?

Even if painting or welding isn’t your forte, many found objects can be transformed into living works of art for the garden.  Here are a handful of ideas from a few next-door divas:

• A vintage delivery bike welcomes visitors to the front porch of Bill and Anne Resseau’s Victorian home.  Anne fitted the bike’s wire basket with a moss liner,
  and plants it with shade-tolerant annuals each spring. 
• Becky and Aubrey Daniels transformed a weathered wicker swing into a bed for ferns and impatiens. 
• Alpharetta’s Wanda Fahey gave a worn-out grill a second life as a patio planter, adding height, color and whimsy to her backyard.

Need more inspiration?  Summertime art festivals are great places to pick up ideas as well as original pieces for the garden.  A day trip to the late Howard Finster’s Paradise Gardens (www.finster.com) inspired me to make a sunflower mosaic for the porch of our garden shed using concrete and broken dishes.  Over the years, I’ve amassed a veritable zoo of iron critters for the garden from local artists, including frogs, birds, dogs, cats, and even a 5-foot tall flamingo, although it isn’t pink.

Yard Art is definitely a diva-thing.  Relatively speaking, original works of art for the outdoors are affordable.  Like accessories for a basic black dress, yard art lets you personalize your little patch of green and show off your own innate sense of style.  And, best of all, unlike other gardening collections, art doesn’t die in the container while you’re figuring out where to ‘plant’ it.