A Story Behind Each Garden Gate
Each garden gate I make for a client has a story. I think of these stories as a three legged stool that supports a narrative. The first leg is the client’s story, their desires, dreams, and ambitions behind having a bespoke cedar gate made for their garden. The second leg is the story behind a place itself. Each space (garden) is different, just like the people inhabiting it. The story of place should never be overlooked and always be included when designing a gate. The third leg is where my story comes in. It’s not the how of what I do, but the why behind it. The attention to craft, mindful intention and my connection to nature and the beauty she reveals that guide my hands.
These stories create a narrative, a very unique one. Like the seasons, they repeat, but never exactly the same. My most enjoyable projects are when my clients let go and share their story, authentically. Not a sanitized, masked version of their story, but the raw humanness one. It is the intermingling of these stories that lead to the best work unfolding.
A Seed of Inspiration
Most gates begin with an inspirational photo, a client sketch, or a design I work on. Usually it’s a combination of these. Subtle changes are made, needs addressed and desire for expression revealed. Listening is more important than seeing at this point. I’m aware, at this stage in the creative process, that my clients may not be fully aware of their desires. Listening, but more importantly hearing the unsaid, is something I’m constantly trying to be aware of.
The photos that I’m using as examples don’t really matter as much as the process. I could easily have used any number of gates I’ve made as examples. I chose these gates as they are very similar in design, but due to the space in which they exist changes needed to be made on the height of the lower panel. If you look closely at the first two gates you’ll see very minor changes from the third gate.
Once both the client and I feel comfortable, the design and dimensions are agreed on and the next phase begins. To the workshop we must go.
From Workbench To Form A Story Unfolds
This is where my story finds expression. My gate making studio has been created specifically for this activity. I can do a number of other things like arbors, furniture, trellis, etc. and often do. However, the main purpose is gate making and yet there are still more possibilities. It serves as a meditation studio, a study, a spiritual retreat as well as an expression of creative values.
Armed with my client’s desires I set out interpreting those desires as well as the story of their space into a form that will not only be visually appealing, but will add a little something unsaid to their garden. Here, feeling as much as logic, guides my hands. Proportions are felt, not thought. My search for meaning is finding expression as a simple whispered utterance under cover of the other stories unfolding.
A Unique Narrative Takes Shape
Before I install a gate I like to do a reveal to allow the client see what I’ve made for them and decide if it is good. I would never want to leave someone with something I’ve made that they were unsatisfied with. So far i have a 100% track record of acceptance.
This isn’t because I’m the best gate maker out there, far from it. It’s more of an intuition on my clients part. A person may not be able to appreciate a mortise and tenon joint or know the value of sealing the end grain of wood, but they can intuit a thing made well, even more so a thing made well for them.
Conclusion (the work is never concluded)
If all has gone well I can look at a space before I leave and feel that it now has a touch of beauty that did not reside there before. That, my friends is enough and brings me great joy.
Share with me your story and your space and let’s create a unique narrative together. What are you dreaming of for your garden this spring?
THE FENCE GUY OF LOUISVILLE
Embracing good workmanship and the quality that results from it is at the heart of what I do. What guides my design philosophy is the aspiration towards Beauty in built forms