Last winter when gardens were dormant, I featured the colorful garden sculptures of landscape designer Jan Kirsh. Since 2009, her fruit and vegetable collection has grown to include artichokes, asparagus, carrots, eggplants, figs, pears and peppers that have enlivened the gardens of many Eastern Shore residences and galleries. This month she unveiled her new 36” tall pineapple sculpture and has already installed two of them on top of brick posts that flank the entrance gates of a fabulous vegetable garden south of Annapolis. The pineapple has long been regarded as the symbol of hospitality and Jan’s creative and whimsical interpretation with lime green foliage, undulating texture and bold tropical colors make her pineapple design a distinctive addition to her collection.
Jan moved to the Eastern Shore in 1978 and quickly made a name for herself as a talented landscape designer. As her garden design practice flourished and evolved, she found that her clients often requested that she help them site existing sculpture and/or art objects in their gardens as part of her landscape design effort.
That facet of her work was fun and challenging and inspired her to return to her sculptural roots and to create fruit and vegetable pieces that could be incorporated into the gardens she designed. The best of both worlds for Jan is to design and then build a garden that includes a custom piece of her sculpture especially suited for the location.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Jan also has designed a line of 3-D printed jewelry including the popular halved fig in bronze and steel with Swarovski crystals that add significant sparkle. Jan will soon launch an e-store where fans can purchase the jewelry, fruit and vegetable sculptures or commission a custom piece.
After seeing Jan’s luscious pineapple, I was reminded of the duet from “Cabaret” about another pineapple that was a gift from a suitor to his lady love:
“If you brought me diamonds,
If you brought me pearls,
If you brought me roses like some other gents
Might bring to other girls-
It wouldn’t please me more
Than the gift I see
A pineapple for me…:
Whether you are seeking a pineapple for your garden or a gift for the gardener in your life, what better way to perk up your garden this spring with the exotic and colorful pineapple?
A portfolio of her landscape work can be seen at her website www.jankirshstudio.com or contact her at 410-745-5252 (o),410-310-1198 (c) or email at.[email protected]. “It Couldn’t Please Me More”, from the musical ‘Cabaret’, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb.
Spy House of the Week is an ongoing series that selects a different home each week. The Spy’s Habitat editor Jennifer Martella makes these selections based exclusively on her experience as a architect.
Jennifer Martella has pursued her dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. Her award winning work has ranged from revitalization projects to a collaboration with the Maya Lin Studio for the Children’s Defense Fund’s corporate retreat in her home state of Tennessee.
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