Celebrate Your Garden
in Poetry and Art

jai is a poet and artist who delights in creating garden poetry and art. Her work envisions the essence or spirit of a garden during any season.
           jai has created more than 30 poems and painting/collages about gardens. To continue her garden series, she is accepting commissions from individuals locally, nationally, and internationally to visit their gardens and immortalize them in poetry and/or art.


To read some of jai's garden poemART (in text-only format), click here.

If you commission a poem, or a work of art, jai will spend a morning or afternoon visiting your garden to experience the spirit of your special place and talking with you to understand your vision for your garden. She will then create a poem or a piece of art about your garden in one of her unique poetic or artistic styles. You will receive a mounted or scrolled version of the poem, or a work of art on paper or canvas, that is suitable for framing and display.
           Experiencing your garden through jai's eyes is beautiful gift you can give yourself or a garden lover you know. This gift can be given at any time of year since gardens are always real.
           jai can also guide you in creating your own poetry or art to express what your garden means to you. (You need no poetic or artistic training to do this.)
           To hear and see more of jai's work, e-mail her at jai@vision-and-values.com.

Come enter into my Garden

12 of jai's garden/nature poemARTs have been gathered together in a limited-edition artist book, entitled: Come enter into my Garden. These include many of the poemARTs shown above and below:
    Beauty and the Beast (a detail)
Japanese Courtyard Garden
Swan Song
apple-blossom time
Three-Robin Sunday
To Follow the Dance (a celebration of Spring)
Not My Neighbor's Garden
A Week Athens, August
Flowers in Her Hair
birthday bubbles
Garden Wall with Hole
Evergreen (or The Secret of Christmas).
 

 
jai creates her colorful abstract poemART using her computer as typewriter/brush/paint. Her primary canvas is 8-1/2" x 11" white linen paper, although a number of poemARTs are on translucent vellums and other beautiful, touchable papers that become part of the beauty and meaning of the poemART. jai prints her poemART herself, monitoring the quality very carefully. Each poemART is signed and numbered. Each set of 12 is housed in an artist portfolio book that opens like a flower and has an abstract blossom collaged on the cover by jai. Each flower is different, making each portfolio unique. The portfolios are signed and numbered.


 
Come enter into my Garden is a limited-edition artist book. The maximum number of copies will be 200. However, it is likely that the edition will be no more than 100, or possibly significantly less. Why?
           jai explains: "The special papers I use often go out of print or are changed in some way that makes them inappropriate for use in a particular poemART. If I can't find another paper that I am happy with, I stop making that poemART.
           "Also, I print my poemART on special low-resolution printers that are no longer made. I have not yet been able to find another printer that gives me the type of low-resolution color spread that I like. Therefore, at some point soon it may be impossible to reproduce my poemARTs in the way that I originally envisioned and created them. If this happens, I will stop, and that will determine the size of the edition."
           jai is also in the process of creating a CD recording of her poemART with some background on their creation.
           The cost for Come enter into my Garden (including a copy of the CD) is $525 (plus 7% tax if you are a Pennsylvania resident). If you are interested in ordering or in learning more about jai's artist books, please e-mail jai. Also see I hear doors artist book on Doors page.
           jai's work is in the National Museum of Women in the Arts. jai also performs her garden and nature poetry and song in public and private gardens. See more under A One Woman Show.