Watering Cans
About the Collection
The story about a weekend spent watering can hunting, while true, is only part of the reason for this collection. The main motivator is the chaos of the world, the flames of which rise higher by the month. Domestic cozy, a movement described by commentators from Ribbonfarm to the New York Times, has been one response; we retreat to the oasis of the home, where there is comfort and protection and control.
A home garden is a common manifestation of domestic cozy. A place we can nurture and in turn be nurtured ourselves. What a shame, then, that the most important tool of the trade tends to be a monstrosity.
Normally, at the outset of a design-and-build like this, I would do my homework, studying cans high and low to see what makes them tick. (Don't chuckle, dear reader. So much thought and experimentation must go into the creation of the humblest product.)
Instead, the morning I began, inspiration came almost against my will - my hand struggled to keep up with the flood of ideas. It was painful to cull dozens for which I sadly haven't time.
One page from the morning flood
Five schemes survived the culling. Each had a different sensibility and would push my skills in a new direction. I somewhat regret that they're not more market-friendly. A mass market can is a staid can. A staid can has its place, but it hardly excites the imagination, and certainly does not gesture at the infinitude of forms that are achievable, where every curve and hollow can quiver with joy or swoon with the sorrow of summer's last rose.
That said, I hope you will appreciate their moods, and, be it to a lesser measure, the skill required to bring each to fruition.