Totally Unauthorized

Not a bad surprise in my yard.

So Tuesday, Gail and I play at Redwood, as usual.  Well, not quite as usual, because we had one of those games where we couldn’t do a single thing right and came in last.

Then we went to work.

Then we came home, and started to play a tournament on Bridge Base.  So far, this is pretty boring.

I heard a noise in the yard, and went to investigate.  The lovely sight you see above is what I found.

Why is there a beautiful, paint-covered young woman in my yard?  Because I had arranged to have the artwork she and her father created re-habbed, and then forgotten that Tuesday was the day.  Turns out they had been working for 6 hours already, and were about to finish up.

The work consists of 11 pieces of wood, perhaps 7 or 8 feet long, painted brightly and stuck in the ground.  It strikes me as vaguely African, and is one of my favorite pieces.  We have owned it for 5 years, and the paint was flaking off; it needed some major work.

Erica, above, and her father Jeff, came up from Watsonville where Jeff operates Sierra Azul Nursery.  Over the past 6 years, he has transformed his business from a place that sells plants into a wonderland of a sculpture garden which also happens to sell plants.

Jeff adding clear coat to the finished work

Now Erica is working.

The work finished, they cleaned up and enjoyed a glass of wine in the back yard while dinner cooked.

After work.

Jeff relaxing

Erica is the artist here–she just graduated from Boston University with a degree in art, and is trying to make her way as a portrait artist.  It’s a tough business, though, and she still tends bar a couple of nights a week to pay the rent.

It occurred to me that she could make pretty good money as a model–I don’t think you’ll find anyone in Vogue this month more attractive:

Knowing how to paint a portrait, she also knows how to pose for one.

They stayed for dinner, then toddled back to Watsonville.  Our sculpture looks wonderful, and will last another 10 years, I hope.   Sometimes, rehab is a good thing.