"Silent Meditation" (2011)
This little man sits on his stone perch in the gardens at The Belvedere House in West Meath, Ireland. He’s just one of many sculptures that occupy the grounds. The Belvedere House has a vast estate that include very elaborate Victorian Gardens that have been meticulously restored and maintained. This was not my first trip to the house, or its gardens. I had been to visit on my trip to Ireland in 2009. It was one of my favorite estates, and I remembered it well.
I made my way through the gardens, slowly walking the paths with its multitude of ponds, fountains, sculptures and plants. I took time to appreciate some of my favorite parts of the garden, particularly it’s more tropical plants. Because the garden is walled, it’s able to keep very foreign plants well maintained, even over the winter months. But while I was walking around to look, I still had an agenda. I was on my way to the newest addition to the estate, the Faery Garden. It’s a small garden tucked in the farthest corner of the estate, beyond the original stone wall. The Faery Garden has the largest array of sculptures, most of them matching the name of the garden. Scattered amongst the faeries, there are a few gnomes and gremlins that line the path that cuts through the garden. As I walked over the tiny bridge in the center of the garden, I made my way to my favorite sculpture that rests at the bridge’s end; The Little man, Perched in Silent Meditation.
He sits, calmly on his tree trunk made of stone, in quiet reflection. It’s quite a juxtaposition from the other, more lively characters that live in the Faery Garden. And as I was there the day before the Autumnal Equinox, the colors around him looked more like fall than anywhere else in the garden. One of my favorite parts of this image reflects that with the small leaves that are falling to the ground just by the little man’s left knee.
