One of my favorite things about being a sculptor who works exclusively with reclaimed metal is finding my people — and ReClaimIt PDX’s annual fundraising event and art show, Garden Duet, is full of them.
I’m thrilled to be one of over 20 local artists showing at Garden Duet VIII next weekend, June 13–14, 11am–3pm, in SW Portland. This is one of those events that genuinely embodies everything I believe about art and materials: that discarded things have a second life, that beauty lives in the overlooked, and that your garden deserves something with a soul.
What is Garden Duet?
One ticket gets you into two stunning private gardens in SW Portland, both overflowing with outdoor and garden art made from at least 80% reclaimed materials. It’s a fundraiser, a celebration of summer, and honestly just a beautiful way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
Every piece for sale was made by a local Portland-area artist from reclaimed and recycled materials — which means you can go home with something one-of-a-kind that also kept materials out of the landfill. Talk about win-win!
What I’ll be showing:
This year I’m bringing a range of pieces that span garden statement art all the way down to tabletop treasures — something for every space and every budget.
For the garden itself, I’ll have Elegy for the Wetlands, a standing heron (above) — elegant and perfectly at home among plants — along with the Ironflight Menagerie, a swarm of dragonflies, and Keeper of Quiet Things, a simple, truly adorable snail (below)—which just might be my favorite small piece right now.
For walls and fences, I’ll have Iron Metamorphosis (below), a wall-hanging butterfly that transforms reclaimed metal into something genuinely delicate. Also hanging will be my mosaic hearts — intimate, handmade, full of feeling.
If you’re looking for something that will stop people in their tracks, my hanging horse head, Unbridled Spirit — a spectral mare forged from chains and wrenches — is looking for a new home and a garden worthy of her.
On the tabletop side, I’ll have members of the Gloomwing Aviary (adorable cutlery birds) and a Dawn Chorus, a tabletop bird sculpture (below) — the kind of piece that looks like it belongs on a windowsill or a garden bench, raising her head up to sing a morning song.
And I’ll have even more pieces that I’m planning to make this week, like a flamingo planter that will stand majestically in your garden and an elegant swan planter.
This has been a big year in my studio. My monumental weeping Statue of Liberty, Liberty Wept (above), will be installed at the Percival Plinth Project in Olympia, WA as part of a year-long public art installation — and my full-scale flying raven, Midnight Ascent (below), with its 4.5-foot wingspan of heat-blued steel and silverware feathers, is on display at the Splendorporium Art Gallery until the end of July.
(Neither of these last two will be at Garden Duet, but they’re part of the same creative momentum that produced everything that will be.)
Come to Garden Duet VIII and see where the work lives at this scale — in gardens, among growing things, doing exactly what it was made for.
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!
The practical details:
- When: Saturday & Sunday, June 13–14, 11am–3pm
- Where: Two private gardens in SW Portland (address with ticket purchase)
- Tickets: One ticket, both gardens — kids 12 and under free
- Rain or shine — dress for Portland in June (you know what that means)
- No pets please, except service animals
- Note: Both gardens have steep, uneven pathways — worth knowing ahead of time
- Food & coffee nearby: Driftwood Coffee and Steeplejack Pizza are both close, or pack a picnic and head to Gabriel Park afterward
Come wander, come shop, come say hello.
Christine Rose 
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