Monday, May 17, 2010

Garden Piano

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A few weeks ago when down visiting my parents at our family home, down in West Cork, I went for a wander in the gardens (you may remember these gardens from my previous post ‘'garden labyrinth’). During my wander I stopped off to have a look to see how the garden piano was doing.
By now it has all but disintegrated, but it still holds a magical charm about it, in fact it was all part of the plan! Perhaps I should explain.


Besides being a passionate gardener, my dad is also a passionate piano player, so a few years back we got him a new piano for his birthday. So the old piano spent a wile in the shed before he had the great idea to put it out in the garden. I can almost see one of Bruno Torfs sculptures sitting there playing it when no one is around (The first picture is my photoshopped impression of this)  




Tucked away in a inconspicuous corner, the piano creates a entire atmosphere of its own. Slowly over time it began housing plants and wildlife alike, becoming part of the landscape. Although it quickly lost its ability to play any notes, my dad was hoping to wake up one morning to a loud clang, when the piano would finally fall apart, making its final encore.


Unfortunately it never did produce the theatrical clang he was hoping for, it did on day just fall apart, creating a new and in some way far more enchanting garden feature.







Unfortunately as I was not there when the piano was moved, I don’t have any photos of this. The first few photos were taken in 2008 by a guest staying at my parents farm, and the rest were taken a few weeks ago on my resent visit.

28 comments:

  1. That photoshopped picture is awesome! Hahaha. Quite perfect.

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  2. Yes, the photoshopped piano player is perfect! Maybe you can make a real one in the garden?
    Lene

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  3. Love the photoshopped pic.
    Too funny. What an amazing thing to put in the garden.
    Kathy

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  4. Me thinks your father has quite a sense of humor. Seeing this picture and thinking about music titles - has to be a pun in there somewhere.
    Enjoyed going back to the labyrinth post and taking the stroll.

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  5. I love your blog. I am so glad you found me (he he). The photoshop image is great but the whole idea of placing the piano in the garden is "grand".

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  6. That 1st old garden piano shot is haunting ... love it!

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  7. I love your photoshop photo... great job and vision! The last seven shots are pretty amazing too! Moving pianos can be pretty difficult ... allowing nature to move it seems to be effortless. ;>) Poetic!

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  8. As a retired music teacher... I must say that there is something very nostalgic about these photos... Larry

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  9. The pictures are so interesting. What a wonderful way to continue to use an old piano.

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  10. The piano slowly falling back into the earth is beautiful. Smart dad you have! :)

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  11. A wonderful idea to let the old piano have a second life under the trees with the fairies and the goblins...I am sure at midnight it will come to life with some notes of its former glory time.

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  12. I imagine the critters playing the piano at night, when no one else can hear it. I love the piano, and am intrigued by its use in the garden. I'd of never thought to "plant" it!

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  13. I do love the photoshopped sculpture. The photos of the piano becoming part of the garden are wonderful and beautiful. Now I wonder, what will happen to the metal parts of the piano? I'm imagining another garden sculpture made from those.

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  14. Loved the very first picture in this series! All of these photos are awesome :-)

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  15. Whoa, this is totally fantastic. I loved the first photo - I realize now it's photoshoped, but wouldn't that have been a great thing to build!?

    I love the garden piano. When we first moved into our house, my husband took the previous owner's planter (an urn) and took care to bury it in the deep in the creek across the street. He wanted kids to find it and treat it as a wishing well. Unfortunately, we found out we do a neighborhood creek clean up every year. Our next door neighbor dragged it out and it now sits on her front porch!

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  16. Great post. I love the piano going back to the earth. The Deputy Coroner in me finds that beautiful. Thanks for checking out my blog the other day. I'm adding a link to yours on mine.

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  17. Now that's a fabulously unexpected sight ... what a wonderfully different idea! Music and Mother Nature at play ... perfect pairing!

    Thanks for popping in to visit my post ... glad you enjoyed the sunrise photos. Here's hoping you have a fantastic summer while our marvellous winter draws in. I think the temps. over there and over here will be about the same during that time ... lol!!!

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  18. That is an intriguing series of photos. I love this idea of a garden piano. Remarkable!

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  19. What a great story! Makes me think about repurposing my old bike... Wonderful photos, as well.

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  20. What a wonderful thing to do with a piano, I never would have thought of it.

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  21. I just had to have another look at the photos of the piano. I think I laughed more this time than I did the first time, and imagining your father hoping for a final major chord.

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  22. Such a cool theme for a post, Sunny.
    And might I add, something awfully, poetically Irish about it, for sure!!
    xo
    Alice

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  23. For a moment I thought your dad had created that sculpture! That would have been amazing - almost as much so as his maze! I think the piano did play one last chord, but it was probably in the middle of the night, during a storm, and so your dad missed it!

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  24. This is amazing! Your images are stunning. Must follow you, off now to look at some past post...
    Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday. xx

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