What do benches mean to you? Are they just a place to sit and rest? Wait for someone or something to happen? Talk to a friend? Eat your lunch? Watch wildlife? Talk to strangers? Gather your thoughts? Be alone to read the paper and enjoy a latte?
Benches play a quiet but significant supporting role in our public and private lives. When we walk through a park, they invite us to stop and take a break. Most gardens and public spaces incorporate benches into their designs. Whether they serve a purpose or are strictly ornamental, benches capture important moments in our lives. In a hospital garden, they are a place for us to collect ourselves, meditate, or pray.
Hollywood recognizes the symbolism of benches and uses them for some of the movies’ most iconic scenes. Forrest Gump shared his life history and quirky words of wisdom while sitting on a bench. Action adventure movies depict spies trading secrets on “neutral territory” park benches, and romantic movies show lovers stealing a moment together, sharing secrets, or falling in love while sitting on a garden or park bench. Despite their function as a place to rest, benches manage to move a lot of stories forward.
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones share a bench in “Men in Black”
Forrest Gump (c) Paramount Pictures
Are benches a “must have” accessory for your garden? If so, you’re part of a longstanding tradition. Garden benches have been valued throughout history. Several years ago the British Museum exhibited a garden bench dating back nearly 2000 years!
What would your ideal garden bench be like? Is it a place to sit and dream, or simply a place to rest after pruning your boxwoods? Is it a place of refuge in your cozy garden retreat, or a dramatic expression of creativity in one of your garden rooms? Perhaps it is a focal point that adds interest to your landscape in all seasons, especially winter when the plants have gone to sleep.
As an artist who specializes in creating one-of-a-kind concrete “faux bois” benches, I get a unique perspective on the important role they play in our daily lives. When I create a special garden bench for a client, I am taking into account their dreams and garden fantasies and weaving them into a design that will last for ages and touch the part of us that seeks to be embraced by nature.
A bench can fill a special niche in a garden
One client (an art collector) had a special niche in her garden where she wanted something special and sculptural. I created a special faux bois bench for her. Later in the year I received a Christmas card from her with a portrait of her family sitting on the faux bois bench. She also emailed me a photo taken during a snowstorm last winter to show me how dramatic it looked against a background of snow and ice. Another client wanted a faux bois bench that also served as a welcoming, unique place for her guests to sit during her garden parties.
I’m currently creating a bench that will look like twisted wisteria vines for a man who is restoring a traditional style Tudor house. He has a special place for it under an old live oak tree on the property.
Whether they be practical or whimsical, benches have been around a long time. They will always play an important role in our lives. They are welcoming beacons in an impersonal world, and they retain the echoes of every encounter.
Mac Houfek, author of “Reflections on a Coastal Garden”, enjoys a quite moment with her papillons on one of my faux bois benches. Click on the image to visit her site.
For more information about faux bois furniture, or to commission a special piece for your home or garden, please visit my website: fauxboisfurniture.com
