ODE TO GREEK GARDENERS
by Kevin McCloskey

My Ode to Greek Gardeners depicts two Greek gardeners lovingly tending their gardens. When I first heard of the watering can project I thought I might find inspiration in paintings of gardens. One day, walking through the Reading Museum I was struck by the remarkable beauty of an Attic Greek vase. That wase portrayed Hercules ripping the head off a lion, a bit gory for an arboretum. But a watering can is, after all, a vessel, and so I had found my inspiration. I learned that the ancient Greeks did, indeed, cultivate small decorative gardens. I used the natural earth colors of the ancient vase painters and borrowed from their motifs of animal and plant life.