Garden Sculpture: "Aurora" by Ironmonger Artworks

These may not be the best pictures since my sunflowers always look wilty at the end of the day, but I was so excited about the acquisition of my fabulous new garden sculpture today that I couldn't wait to put these up! (Updated with better pics where the sunflowers in the background weren't wilted!)

I first saw Ironmonger Artworks several years ago at the Llano Estacado Wine & Clay Festival. With the renovation of my back yard this year, I thought one of his pieces would be perfect for the rock garden and had planned from the start of this project to treat myself to one of his sculptures. 

And then he was not at the Wine & Clay Festival this year - BUMMER! (It was cancelled last year due to the pandemic.)

So I stalked him online until I tracked him down, lol...!

I had a hard time deciding between this and one other piece, but finally settled on this one. This piece is called "Aurora" which is the Latin word for dawn. It is made from leaf springs which are the springs used in vehicle suspension systems. I love how this turned out and think it is absolutely perfect for this space! It's exactly what I wanted! 

The artist, George Gray, is a mechanical engineering professor here in Lubbock at Texas Tech University where he teaches metallurgy and other topics.

HERE is a story that Texas Country Reporter did on him, and HERE is another interesting piece from The Fabricator which includes this bit:

He calls his work “Upcycled Steel Transformations,” a process that he describes as taking old, worn-out scrap components, cleaning them up, and welding them as a part of a metal sculpture. Essentially, Gray said, he’s giving these pieces a second chance at life, much like the one he was given.

LOVE IT!! 

7/14/2021 Update: A few more pictures. Also, after looking at a ridiculous amount of "rust patina" pictures online, I have decide to let this develop a natural patina instead of putting a protective clear coat on it. I'm excited to see how it develops!

 

Artist's signature on the base:

Update 7/16/2021: Slight rust accumulation after 1.5" of rain the night before.

 
Added this very heavy 24" x 24" concrete paver as a base last night before the rain.

Landscaping Revamp Update

 Before pics on 4/23/2021 compared with today on 7/11/2021. Yea!!

 

 

 

These Agave pots above are filled 2/3 of the way with crushed cans and a mesh liner to keep the roots from staying too wet.

Rock garden is filled with Mexican feather grass, red yucca, cosmos, hardy ice plant, spineless prickly pear, and a random zinnia. Rosemary and Mexican petunia in the background along the fence.

Bonus pics!

Rock Garden

The whole idea behind putting a renewed focus on the rock garden area was to have something pretty to look at from the house. It's working! I swear, every time I look out there it just makes me happy!

The green grass on the right was seeded in about 10 days prior to the area on the left. 

The sunflowers seem to grow noticeably every day!

Mexican Feather Grass, Hardy Ice Plant,
'Moonshine' Yarrow, spineless prickly pear

Red Yucca in the foreground, rosemary and
Mexican petunia (Ruellia) in the background

This is some kind of yellow blooming weed I dug up from another spot in my yard and transplanted into the rock garden! It suffered some transplant shock but is about to bloom again.

 

I broke up a sedum tile to plant around the path through the rock garden. I'm just crazy about it! Hopefully it will fill in all around and between these rocks.

Whenever a piece breaks off because the dogs walk on it or something, I stick it into the in-between spots...

Redoing the Back Yard Flower Bed

 Ripped out the ratty, old nandinas and replaced with agave pots, Petite Knockout roses, and lantana.

Before...

After!

Before...

After!

The Century Plants (agave) in the pots are pups from an overgrown plant that originally came from my grandmother's garden.

I filled the pots with crushed cans before planting to reduce the weight and keep the roots from staying too wet.