The Internet is full of recipes for aging a concrete garden ornament. Most call for blenders, starter moss, and yogurt. A few decades ago, when I first started gardening, I considered trying to make my concrete garden ornaments look as if we’d both been plodding away a lot longer than we actually had.
But in the end, tending a garden is a busy enough business without creating new chores for one’s self. So I left my ornaments to their own devices, and lo and behold, they’ve rewarded me a wondrous patina created by nature—wind and rain exposing the aggregate so moss and lichen can take up residence.
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| BoHo Home |
Today’s PATTERN JOURNAL is about an aspect of the patina on my sleeping-cat ornament. I always think of my sweet Molly-Bear when I look at this concrete kitty in my garden, purchased long ago, because she’s one of the kitties I had when I bought it.
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| BoHo Home |
But I have to admit it looks a lot like my current sweetie-gal, Maisie-Cat. What’s not to love here?
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| BoHo Home |
I was initially interested in how the surface of the concrete cat had weathered. But as I looked closer, I noticed the rusty colored lichen spots. I circled the largest patch in this photo, but there’s also some on the inside of the left-hand ear and on the tail.
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| BoHo Home |
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| BoHo Home |
…and an enlargement of a section of the closeup, though some of the definition is lost due to the limitations of my phone’s camera.
Yet it’s in that tight shot that the image yields its link to pattern in the world around us.
Where else does it lead?
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| Monica Feudi photo, Balmain Fall 2017 collection / Marcus Tondo photo, Agi & Sam Fall 2015 collection / Monica Feudi photo, Balmain Fall 2017 collection / Monica Feudi photo, Balenciaga Spring 2017 collection |
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| Fae Factory / Etsy |
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| Deconstructed Frida by Loui Jover / Via Redbubble |
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| Untitled ceramic sculpture by Bari Ziperstein / Artsy |
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| Jason Ball Interiors / Via Decoist |
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| Eric Piasecki photo / Martha Stewart |
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| Via Amazon Home |
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| David Duncan Livingstone photo / Martin Kobus Home Design / Via Style Saloniste |
Lichen-on-concrete moodboard
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If you want more…
- Follow the link to read my most recent pattern journal page, “Japanese Maple in Spring.” Or choose “Pattern Journal” from the list of post topics in the sidebar to access all such posts.
- Become a BoHo Home follower in whatever way works best for you. Sign up to have posts sent to your inbox using the subscription link in the sidebar (top right and bottom of page). Or, follow my blog with Bloglovin, a social-media platform that allows you to set up an account and access all the blogs you want to read in one place.
- Follow the (affiliate links) below for books on making a more meaningful life through the recognition and appreciation of pattern.
