Adding art to your jungle garden

There’s no way one can get to Carol Lees’ One Off Art Gallery in Rosslyn, Nairobi without walking down a slightly steep hill—which is well-paved with smooth stones— through a lush ever-green garden that is filled with lovely surprises, both organic and inorganic.

Metal sculptures

In the garden, three Kenyan sculptors are situated out in the garden which can’t be missed as one weans his or her way down towards One Off’s ‘Loft’ Gallery.

Initially, you’ll encounter five colourful metallic ‘men’ standing erect in sentinel-style as if they’re meant to serve as your welcoming committee. These are by Peterson Kamwathi.

As you walk a bit further, you’ll see the ‘Madams’ sculpture made out of scrap metal and also apparently meant to merrily make you feel assured that you’ve come to the right spot. This is one of Joseph ‘Bertiers’ Mbatia’s giant piece.

Overgrown garden

Otherwise, you might imagine you’ve arrived in an exquisitely overgrown garden that’s filled with giant Yellow Birch and bamboo trees, palms, shrubs and flowers to seduce your eyes.

“I want the garden to look natural, even though we have two gardeners working tirelessly, pruning bushes [but only in ways that keep them looking natural] and fertilising the plants using manure from the horses we keep,” says Ms Lees.

Rescue horse

Only one of the three horses housed at Ms Lees’s is her own.

“Rari Blanco was a KSPCA rescue {Kenya Society for Protection and Care for Animals) whose former owner planned to have her put down, but one animal lover intervened, called in the KSPCA and ultimately she found her way to us,” Ms Lee recalls.

“We keep the other two as company to Rari,” she adds, noting that both Rari and the other two love the garden and often can be seen grazing among the sculptures, scrubs and trees. But they’re quite inconspicuous since they hang out in another part of One Off’s five-acre garden.

The garden also has a scrap metal dog who looks a bit like another one of Ms Lees’ rescues, called Kipepo. She’s an affable albeit barking dog that Ms Lees calls a ‘Kenyan Shephard’ (meaning a mix) and who’s the first four-footed creature to greet you when you start your short trek downhill to the Loft.

Real owners

After Kipepo comes the tiny Pembroke Welsh Corgi called Penzi who also has a big bark but no bite. She too came to One Off after her former owners planned to have her ‘put down’. But another animal lover suggested they let the dog stay with Ms Lees instead, and the owners approved.

The other two dogs that come out into the garden as you near the end of the path are another mix: both Tabasamu and his sister Siri are half Burmese Mountain dog and half Border Collie.

Also gentle and joyous to have new people arrive, all four dogs seem happy to share ‘their’ garden with guests although they clearly feel as if they are the real ‘owners’ of the grassy green place.

Add beauty

By the time you arrive at the actual Loft Gallery, you’ve undoubtedly grown accustomed to the fresh cool air and feel as if you’ve gone on a short but sweet jungle journey in spite of your knowing the trek never took you away from civilisation.

But what these artworks have also implied is that you could probably do a lot more to beautify your own back yard with appealing pieces of art.

And if you don’t have a back yard to beautify, you can still do a lot more by adding a bit of art and nature to your one room, the main reason being that it’s not just more beauty that you’ll bring into your life.

It’s also the discovery of how art mixed with nature can give an uplift to your heart and soul.