Here are some photos of Henry Ross and the entrance of Gardenview, his English cottage garden sanctuary. It's located in Strongsville on Pearl Rd., one of the busiest strip mall filled roads around. Just across the street from him they cleared land for yet another little miserable strip mall with its own separate little miserable driveway. The traffic is (you guessed it) miserable. When cars pass Henry's place, they don't think twice about stopping in. All they care about is making the next light. Soon they'll be widening the road, so cars will be able to zip past Henry even faster. Somehow I don't think it was like that when Henry bought the place in 1949. Back then it was a blue clay swamp that he transformed through the miracle of drainage and horse dung into an oasis of calm. Lots of little walkways with perrenials and annuals situated just so, along with little benches and statues. Little "moments" that make perfect watercolor material. Farther back he has two large ponds, one with water lilies.
Following the photos are some sketches from my moleskine sketchbook. I'll be posting more moleskine sketches soon.
