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Gardening

In from the garden

By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published January 5, 2007

For the past decade, the Garden Fairies, a co-op of high-energy artists and gardeners, has been transforming blase yards and homes into enchanting tropical retreats.

Now, mere mortals can live just as colorfully as the Garden Fairies do.

Seven inspired fairies - all professional artists - are celebrating 10 years of fun, friendship, and community outreach projects with their first collective show at the Clay and Paper/Painted Fish Gallery, at 350 Main St., Dunedin.

The show, dubbed "In Thru the Outdoors," features more than 100 pieces of furniture, jewelry and decorative accessories for the home and avant-garden. An opening reception will be 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday and the show continues through Feb. 11.

"This has been 10 months in the making," said Siobhan Nehin, the 50-year-old queen of the Garden Fairies who lives in Tarpon Springs. "Our mission is to help beautify the spaces that surround us."

Every Tuesday night, the middle-aged women gather in a quaint purple cottage in Safety Harbor armed with power tools, hammers and glue guns. As they toil, they swap tales of adventure, gardening, traveling, wizards the men in their lives and their 50th birthday parties.

They have emerged with a unique collection of pieces that reflect their collective mantra: If it's white, paint it, and, with so many beautiful colors in the world, why not use them all.

The multimedia collaborations are made by artists Patti Bacun, Shannon O'Leary-Beck, Barbara Melby-Burhans, Rike Kallaugher, Kiaralinda, Heather Richardson and Nehin. Often, one project is begun by one fairy, finished by others.

"We all share our expertise," said Kallaugher, 53, of Crystal Beach. "Everyone has something unique to contribute."

The results are tables, mirrors, lighting fixtures, stepping stones, garden masks, and staked art sculptures in bright and happy colors, embellished with shells, mosaics, feathers, beads, and iridescent wire.

Humor is an underlying theme in nearly every piece: A sea-shelled shoe sprouts sphagnum moss. A blue-haired mermaid floats on a beaded screen. Three-dimensional coral ascend a lime green vanity. A surfboard becomes the countertop for an outdoor bar.

"We're predicting these surfboard bars are going to be a big hit," said Nehin. Just in case that happens, they have created their own surfboard logo, TropiGals.

Pieces are priced from $10 to $5,000. A raffle will be held at the opening reception and the proceeds will benefit one of the Garden Fairies' many community projects, a children's garden in St. Petersburg, part of the Front Porch Florida Initiative to rebuild distressed communities.

They hope, after their expenses, they will make enough money to pay for a trip to Tahiti.

"Or maybe it will just be around the corner to the Whistle Stop," said Shannon O'Leary-Beck, 56, of Clearwater, referring to a Safety Harbor cafe.

"Whatever happens, we just like to be together making stuff," said Nehin.

Catching fairy dust

What: "In Thru the Outdoors" features more than 100 pieces of jewelry, furniture and accessories created by seven Garden Fairies.

When: The show opens Saturday with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. and continues through Feb. 11.

Where: Inside the Clay and Paper/Painted Fish Gallery, 350 Main St. in Dunedin.

Hours: The gallery is open daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For information: Call (727) 736-0934 or visit www.claypaper.com or the Garden Fairies Web site www.wedigdoinit.com.

[Last modified January 5, 2007, 07:23:07]