When your garden is established enough for you to consider adding the finishing touches, garden statues of children often come to mind. That is because we all have unique childhood memories that translate universally. For instance, my friends and I used to play a form of the common childhood game, Hide n Go Seek. Once we got past the corner of the house, we ran to hide. One day while hiding from the ’seeker’, my neighbor suddenly leaned over and kissed me. As it was experimental on both our parts and the rest of our friends quickly appeared on the scene, the moment was soon over. Still, it wasn’t bad for an unexpected first kiss which is a moment that is easily revisited by a statue of children kissing.
Another rite of passage in many countries is learning to ride a bicycle. Placing a child and his bike in an appropriate setting is sure to remind you of your own sense of freedom once you had mastered it. That’s why garden statues of children are so popular. They can’t help but remind you of pleasant moments in your own past.
The important thing to remember is to keep the statue appropriate to it’s intended setting. A small statue that is placed too far off the path without something to focus attention on it is lost in the landscape. You either have to bring it close to the path or whatever seating you have chosen or raise it up on a pedistal or other mound to add visual bulk. Conversely, a large statue may be better seen if it is placed further from the path. Failing to do so will lessen the emotional impact you want your statue to have on its viewer.
I recently wrote an article on the Arnold Palmer Hospital Play Area that visualy demonstrates these points. Their play area is designed to give an ill child a break from hospital routines and they did it very well. It’s worth looking at.
