Brookside Gardens Seed sculpture

Photo by Bruce Guthrie

Head on over to Brookside Gardens Conservatory, in Wheaton, MD for a peaceful walk and to see the newest artistic addition to the park. In the winter of 2021, I transformed a well-loved Sycamore tree's stump into a sculpture of tree seeds and leaves, metamorphosing death into birth, just in time for spring 2022.

There's an acorn on the top, attached to an oak leaf which is wrapping around a big Norway Spruce pinecone, with needles, in the middle, while six maple (helicopter) seeds spin around the base and on top of a maple leaf.

Photo by Bruce Guthrie

Photo by Bruce Guthrie

Photo by Bruce Guthrie


In Process Pictures


Photo by Bruce Guthrie

The title for this piece is "The Only Time is Now." It's a good reminder for every situation, and is especially relevant for planting seeds. I remember a magnet on my Grandma's refrigerator that said "The best time to plant a tree is 40 years ago, the next best time is now," so this is also an evolution of that idiom, forsaking the fanciful daydreaming of an imagined past and rapping on our knuckles to wake up to the present and the enormous potential and power that it holds, if only we have the courage to act.

*BONUS*

If you want leggings made with the bark pattern of this exact sycamore tree, from before it was carved, a local entrepreneur has done exactly that and you can get yourself a pair over at Deute6.com. You know I have some. (This is NOT an affiliate link, I make no money from this, but it's awesome to support local businesses! They are very comfy!)