Unique sculpture gives Ashland County artist's backyard a colorful, playful touch
MONTGOMERY TWP. − To some, a piece of PVC pipe is just that.
Corrugated plastic, rubber hoses, decorative light fixtures or shipping tubes may not seem to serve much purpose beyond their intended uses.
Not so for Linda McFarlin.
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Using her artist’s eye, the Ashland County resident fashions these common items into a large, colorful, interactive backyard sculpture for her young grandchildren to experience when they visit from North Carolina.
She began two summers ago putting the sculpture together, and plans to keep adding to it.
“I am a bowerbird,” she said, explaining bowerbirds are native to Australia. They build reedy ground nests and go to extraordinary lengths to decorate them with stolen goods and found objects such as shells, bones, pegs and shiny milk caps. “I’m a finder, keeper and curator of collections.
I like finding the treasures and seeing the aesthetic vision of stuff, not necessarily using it the way it was meant to be but how can we use it in another way,” she said.
Her sculpture objects came from a variety of places: Thrift stores, discarded items, bits she has in her barn, rummage sales, resale shops and from friends who responded to her calls for things they had in their homes and no longer want or need. She also admits to being a collector, like her mom and grandmother before her.
What was once a globe from a light is now a dinosaur egg. Other globes get painted, and/or serve as a base for a part of the sculpture. The base of a blender works in conjunction with an interactive toddler toy. Pieces from old games are incorporated in unique ways. Toy keys “unlock” parts of the sculpture that hold surprises for the kids.
Nurturing creativity with unique backyard sculpture
“I keep looking, and keep adding, and thinking, 'what can my grandchildren interact with this,'” she said. “I want them to use their imagination. I want them to be creative, which they are, they are very creative. I’m kind of nurturing that more.”
She sent her son Gavin, who lives with his wife and kids in North Carolina, a video of her progress as she was building the unique backyard sculpture and he thought it was pretty cool, she said.
Using paint colors inspired by Dr. Seuss books, she challenges grandkids Joyanna, 6, and Oakley, 5 to crawl in and around the design without touching parts of the sculpture during their visits.
The colors — lots of pinks and purples and greens — shaped into a whimsical structure, seem to jump out of the pages of Seuss books, which grandma (the kids call her McFarlin) has read to the children over the years.
“It’s got that feeling about it,” McFarlin said.
The artful play area is such a hit that even when McFarlin's grandchildren visit during Christmas break, they want to play with it. Being that the sculpture is held together with liquid nails, it withstands the weather well.
“They are at a very good age where they are still exploring stuff, so this is where you need to tap into this,” she said of the children, who are “best buddies,” she said.
Asked if they have input on the sculpture, McFarlin said she would rather the kids be surprised when they visit.
McFarlin is known throughout the community for her detailed pencil art drawings of people and places.
The backyard sculpture is her first since her college days. She’s spent 16 years teaching art to students at North Central State College, and husband Gary has a custom framing business, Pine Manor Gallery & Frame.
Recently retiring from teaching college, Linda McFarlin thought about what she might want to do that she never had time to do before.
She sees the sculpture as one which will never be done. She'll keep adding to it and surprising her grandkids with something new each time they visit.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland-area artist brings backyard to life with colorful sculpture
