Wacky Lawn Sculptures from Junk

An easy half-day trip from downtown San Francisco, through the farming country of Sonoma County, just north on the 101, is the cherming town of  Sebastopol and it’s 7,700 residents.  Scattered around town, in front of homes and businesses, you can find a collection of some very interesting and unique folk art that’s made from junk and discarded items and turned into colorful, whimsical, amusing pieces of urban folk art sculptures.

Artists Patrick Amiot and Brigitte Laurent, two area residents, have created some highly imaginative, slightly eccentric, but always fun sculptures that can only make you smile when viewed.  And this is NOT your stereotypical pink flamingo or garden gnome lawn art.

Patrick is the sculptor and his wife, Brigitte paints the pieces.   The couple lives on a quiet 3-block long residential street lined with older homes, mature trees and now, lots of art.  Florence Avenue (nicknamed “Art Street”) is heavily dotted with their zany pieces in front of a couple dozen of their neighbor’s homes.

While some of their pieces have been commissioned for local commercial establishments around town, most are on display in front of private residences or on their main showroom (their front lawn) which is crowded with pieces of their art.

Before moving to California from Canada,  the couple  operated a 5-person ceramic studio in Vancouver, British Columbia,   But after moving to California, the market wasn’t able to support their ceramics business so starting in 2000, Amiot created his first piece of sculpture from an old barbecue, a couple discarded vacuum cleaners, and an old wheelbarrow.  The result was a 15-foot tall brightly painted cartoonish fisherman, which they placed on their front lawn.  Fearing  the city might cite them with a zoning violation, he discovered that the piece actually opened up a niche market for his creations and did not earn a citation from the city.

Within a year, he received his first commission.  And since then, the husband and wife team have been making mostly larger format sculptures, as well as unique furniture, that can now be seen all over town, with new pieces popping up all the time.

Made from junk or just about anything that’s old or discarded – pipes, garbage cans, scrap metal and wood, leftover construction supplies, automobile parts, pots and pans, lighting fixtures, tires, appliances, toys and even an occasional musical instrument, Patrick turns them into unique pieces of art after which Brigitte finishes with paint.

The works are created mostly using pop rivets and welds, paint and acrylics.  He sources his materials from swap meets, junkyards, flea markets, and even a few people familiar with his art drop off items that he might be able to use.  While not intentionally starting off as a recycler artist, it has become an important aspect of his creations and their family’s lifestyle.

Their studio is not in some stuffy art gallery with perfect lighting, but all over the Northern California town.  Over 100 of his sculptures are scattered up and down the town’s streets, many on the block where the couple lives.

“Surfer Girl”, a bikini wearing surfer  rides an ironing board over a big, blue wave made from a car hood, while just down the street, a dog in red flowered shorts surfs another wave.  For motorcycle fans, a scary white skeleton riding a chopper motorcycle is located just a few doors away.

Across the street, a dog races a convertible hot rod and as you enter town on Highway 12, a man-eating flower pops out of flowerpot welcoming customers to a nursery and garden center.

The two tallest sculptures I came across included one called the “Zucchini Brothers,” a three-person juggling act made from, in part, trash cans that is close to two-stories high, along with the equally tall green T-Rex piece.

A couple of my other favorites included the red fire truck with it’s crew racing to a fire, as well as the old sea captain poking his head out of the smoke stack of his boat.

Prices for pieces range from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.

The Sebastopol area (the West Valley) has earned a reputation of being a bit funky, earthy, artsy, bohemian, and perhaps going as far as a bit weird, (even for Northern California standards) and these sculptures fits the neighborhood like a glove…a somewhat silly glove with a great sense of humor and an eye on saving the planet.

Location:
Florence Avenue
between Bodega Avenue (Route 12) and Healdsburg Avenue (Route 116)
Sebastopol, California

Images – from personal collection   ©2010, Jon Rochetti