Garden Art- Starting a New Experiment-Photos

The snow and cold has kept me pretty close to home.  The roads were just barely clear of ice, and I made a trip out to the craft store to purchase some canvas in order to paint the peacock picture.  That is about as much as I have done, because the rest of the day was spent on grocery shopping and errands.  Another snow storm came through during the night and left us with as much snow as the last storm.  Looks like today's time will be spent on shoveling rather than crafting for the most part.

When winter weather sets in, people begin to make plans for the garden they will plant in the spring.  And along with gardens, people also make plans to create garden art.  I can tell that we have hit that point, because I am seeing a lot of hits to the blog for those garden posts.  I've also had some emails with some questions regarding making the balls.  I would like to address them in the blog today.

My gazing balls are build on a support of old bowling balls. (Scoll back to the January 2012 of this blog to get more information on the construction of the gazing balls.)  One of the questions that has come up is about obtaining a bowling ball to use as the base for the gazing ball.  There was something that was written on the internet several years ago that is not true, and it has been causing people a problem ever since.  The myth: that bowling alleys have racks of chipped bowling balls that they would hand out for free because they could not use them.  The reality:  bowling alleys send chipped balls back to the manufacturer for a credit.   They have no incentive what so ever to give away a product that will bring them in some money. 

Unfortunately, many people have shown up at bowling alleys after having read the myth expecting to pick up a ball.  When informed of the real situation, some people have offered to purchase the ball at the price that the alley would be credited, only to have that offer turned down as well.  Generally, the tale ends there.  I am also learning that some of the requests and responses have not been particularly polite from both sides of the equation.  So for the people requesting bowling balls, remember, you can't believe everything you read on the internet.  Also, try to understand that you are probably not the first person to have asked.  If you live near any center of population, you might possibly be the ten thousandth person to have made the request.  You might be able to understand why the bowling alley person has become a little irritable on the subject.

That said, there are some ways to obtain an old bowling ball.  Aside from canvassing family and friends, there is one method that has worked.  If you live in the United States, check to see if there is a Freecycle group in your area (Freecycle.org)  Freecycle is a national organization that has small local groups under its umbrella.  You don't sell things here, you give them away for free, hence the name Freecycle.  Once you have put an item up for adoption, then you are free to make a request for an item.  (FYI- you also agree not to resell for money the items you get on Freecycle.) I made a request for a bowling ball on Freecycle.  Withing twenty-four hours someone contacted me.  She had four bowling balls, I could have them if I agreed to take all four.  Not a problem for me.  Please remember that once you make an agreement with someone, please pick up the item promptly.  Someone has an old bowling ball stuffed away in a closet.  If they see your post, you might be in luck.

Sometimes, on rare occasions, you might find one at a thrift store.  However, I check my thrift store regularly and I have not seen one.  I can't say that it never happens, but I would not count on it as a regular means of obtaining bowling balls. 

Given the lack of availability of bowling balls, people have attempted to make gazing balls using other support structures.  Some work better than others.  Large hard plastic Christmas ornaments have had some success.  Some people have used hard plastic bowling balls from children's bowling sets as well.  Another choice is a styrofoam ball or floral foam ball.  Attempting to make a gazing ball from covering a children's plastic bouncing ball have not had as much success.  The ball tends to deform under the weight of glass and grout.  I have seen online recently that someone used a basket ball.  I do not know the long term success of that material.   Assuming that it survived the process without deforming, the ball could eventually lose air, leaving a hollow void.  I don't know whether the layer of tape and grout would be strong enough to hold up once the ball deflates.

The other problem with these materials are that they are expensive, and expense affects your planning. A new bowling ball could cost thirty-dollars or more.  A basket ball thirty-five.  A ten inch foam ball from a craft store could cost just under twenty dollars.  No one wants to purchase a new item to make a gazing ball if they can help it.

So, my experiment of the day is to attempt to find a way to make a form for a gazing ball that will be less expensive, and won't deflate or deform.  I think that I can figure out a way to make make the support relatively inexpensively, and that making a second or third experiment could bring the cost per ball down even further. (Once you start making gazing balls, it is hard to stop.)  Although it will be less expensive, it will take more time than just starting with a purchased or found object for the substrate.  If  you plan to make more than one, and have a little time to spend, it could end the hunt for a gazing ball substrate.  I've begun working on it and will have pictures soon.

In the mean time, I will get to work on my peacock painting.  Now that I have a large canvas, I am ready to get to work.