Gardens for Life, Sustainable Living
By Marcy Stamper
copyright Methow Valley News - June 4, 2008

"A garden can grow food, stimulate a reverence for nature, inspire contemplation, and create feelings of joy from its sheer beauty," said Sue Marracci, who weaves these sensory aesthetics into the new show at Confluence Gallery.

Co-curated by Marracci and Roxie Miller, the show celebrates the effusive growth of summer for its aesthetics and practical qualities through functional art for the garden, feeders and baths, outdoor furniture and planters and stepping stones.

There are also adornments for the interior, such as paintings of wooded groves and plowed hayfields, bountiful harvests of voluptuous eggplants and artichokes, and photographs that highlight the abstract, formal qualities of flowers.