In article Yy66b.46327$xf.7197@lakeread06,
Jacqueline Davidson wrote:
We plan to keep a garden area which has already been planted as a memorial
garden to loved ones who have passed on. We are looking for ideas for a
nice marker. Anyone have ideas? Does anyone have this already, and did
you place names on the sign or not?
Jackie


I have a friend who approached this in a way that worked pretty well. He
went to a nearby college and talked to one of the fine arts instructor.
With the advice of the instructor, he commissioned one of the students
to create an outdoor sculpture. It was a win-win-win situation. My
friend got a reasonably nice commissioned piece on the cheap. The
prof used it as a way of teaching the student. The student got some
cash for his semester project.

The only drawback I saw was that one has to make sure that everybody's
vision is in sync. I have also seen this kind of thing go bad, where
the student wanted to create something a bit more out there then the
customer wanted, and it ended up in the garage -- everybody was ****ed.
The customer ended up with a $3000 doorstop and the student was upset
because her work was hidden and not appreciated.

Generally, though, if you are in sync with the instructor, neither
vision nor quality are much of a problem, as long as you not looking
for a museum piece.

You might also be surprised if you ask around to find out that you
have acquaintances or friends who do large scuptures. Over the
past couple of years, I have run into three acquaintances who do
pretty good work out of their garages. One is a mathematician who
does geometric sculpture, one is a forensic graphics person/crime
scene reconstructionist who does commissioned representative art,
and a third who is a mechanic who does these strange welded
nuts/bolts/gears thingies.


billo