A Peaceful City Garden

Baltimore is full of narrow city lots, often with a garage at one end and the town house at the other. Fences often surround them, and sometimes walls. It is only when one enters the gate or walks through the home or garage that one can see the beautiful and lush oasis' that have been created by the homeowners! What the city garden lacks in space is more than made up for in intensity of landscaping. City gardens provide a unique opportunity to create a garden space that is pure landscaping, lacking the usual lawns of their suburban counter parts. Homeowners enjoy grilling, gardening, entertaining, sunbathing, reading, and more in these beautiful and intimate spaces.


This "city garden" began as a rather bare yard with an old brick patio and a shaky privacy fence.

The homeowners decided to have us replace the fence with a brick wall, and re-use the existing brick to make new patio, as well as raise the garden beds with dry-stack Pennsylvania field stone walls.

The brick wall was selected to blend in with the brick on the existing carriage house and was a full 6 feet high to maximize privacy. The subtle pattern of end bricks was also carefully selected to reflect surrounding walls and the garage itself.


The homeowners had found a decorative terracotta which had been salvaged from an old Baltimore building. We were able to incorporate this into the wall at a prominent location where it was sure to be appreciated for many years to come.
A raised bed below the terracotta serves to blend the "old with the new"...


Pennsylvania field stone complete with moss provides natural borders for the raised beds, giving the appearance of having been in the garden for years.

The majority of bricks which made up the new patio came from the original patio itself, we brought in additional salvaged bricks from Baltimore which allowed us to complete the patio without the addition of glaringly new bricks.

The rectangular patio merged with a circular patio space which created a natural sitting area for the homeowners and guests.


As we came to a completion with this project it was wonderful to see how the garden looked as if it had been there for years. The moss covered stones, the old brick, the solid wall and the unique terracotta blended perfectly to create this private, peaceful city garden.

A rare glimpse from the alleyway taken before the gate was installed, a lush magnolia tree behind the adjoining fence adds rich color to the background.

Natural Sealant and Wax for Slate Hearth

This slate hearth is for the future install of a Woodstock Soapstone Stove .  The two circles are for two mosaics which will be installed after the installation of the Stove.  The slate needed to be sealed and polished because without sealing any oils or liquids can potentially permanently stain the slate and without waxing the full array of colors within the slate will be hidden.  Slate tends to look dusty without this treatment.  Slate is also a soft stone and the wax helps protect it. 

Not wanting any harsh or toxic chemical in the home, we chose to use three great products from real milk paint company.  Tung oil is diluted with citrus solvent to allow maximum penetration of the oil and it is finished with carnauba wax.

We were delighted with the result.  The tung oil brought out the full variety and depth of color within the slate and the carnauba wax gave it a beautiful luster.  The best part of all is the completely nontoxic result which does not compromise the aesthetic quality of the slate!

We purchased the tung oil, citrus solvent and carnauba wax from the real milk paint company which can be found at www.realmilkpaint.com.

The Koki Mosaic

The Koki Mosaic

This mosaic depicts a Taino (Indigenous People of the Caribbean) petroglyph of a tree frog (Koki). The mosaic is formed from chips of granite tile and is set in local central Maryland stone on the foundation of the log house which houses the workshop of SEVEN WINDS. The frog represents life and fertility to people around the world, the Koki (Caribbean Tree Frog) has found it impossible to survive anywhere in the world other than in the Caribbean until finally it was able to also survive in Hawaii. The Taino Koki also has connections with the rain (fertility for the Earth), and children, and is our Taino daughter's favorite mural!

The Three Snowy Owls continued

Close up views of the series of three Snowy Owls..

The Flying Snowy Owl

The Landing Snowy Owl

The Standing Snowy Owl

The name SEVEN WINDS

THE NAME SEVEN WINDS

Many people ask me the meaning of the name "SEVEN WINDS". The name comes from Seven Energies or Spirits which are all involved in what I do. The first energy (spirit) is of course the EARTH herself, the foundation of Life; without her we have nothing. The second is the MOUNTAIN, that which gives us all the stones, the form to our landscape and all the minerals and elements that we need to live. The third is the SUN which generates the warmth and power for the life on the Earth to be fruitful and sustainable. The fourth is WATER, which not only is essential for life but also shapes the stones, shapes even the Mountains and Earth. The fifth is the WIND or AIR, also essential for Life, which also shapes the stones and the Earth and also carries communications of all kinds. The SIXTH energy or Spirit is the "Ancestors" all those who came before us all around the entire Earth who have given rise to the collective understandings of how to work in healthy ways with the Earth, all her resources and eachother, the Seventh is the Spirit of all the tools we use to work, from the simple shovel used to pick up a stone to the modern excavators, from the simple hand saw used to cut a log to the mechanized masonry saw, to huge sawmill equipment. The name SEVEN WINDS honors these seven energies or Spirits that are critical to the work that I do.

The Eagle Mural

The Eagle Mural

The Eagle Mural is shown here before installation. It is destined for an interior installation in an entry. The Eagle is marble, the background is natural slate. Using the naturally occurring variations in the slate the Eagle is depicted landing on rocky terrain. This mural was the prototype for this type of style using the marble and the slate. This type later was used in the series of three Snowy Owls and other murals. Each piece is cut individually and fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Natural white veins in the dark brown marble used for the Eagle gives the impression of the texture of the Eagle's feathers. Due to all these factors of variation each piece is totally unique and could never be duplicated just as every stone and plant is unique and cannot be duplicated. This mural is sitting on top of a outdoor grill that we made using the natural stones occurring in our part of Maryland. The stones compliment the colors in the mural beautifully. This type of mural is equally as suitable for an outdoor environment as it is for an indoor environment.

Here the mural is installed into a natural slate floor which has been finished with Tung Oil and Carnauba Wax.

The Zodiac Mosaic

The Zodiac Mosaic

The clients in Whidbey Island, WA also requested a mosaic to be made for their entrance hall. This was a larger piece, made entirely from marble. It was to be a representation of the zodiac. After some design consideration, we suggested the zodiac circle around a representation of the Earth with a Sun at the South pole and a Moon at the North Pole. The zodiac itself consisted of 13 signs which is actually the true number of constellations on the zodiac line, the actual shape of the constellations are depicted by white marble "stars".

The colors are brighter and more intense than the photo depicts. There are literally thousands of different pieces which make up this mosaic.

Close up view of mosaic showing North Pole "Moon".