Page 19 - BusinessWest September 5, 2022

The fire-breathing dragon is just one of many works of art to capture the imagination at the Three Sisters Sanctuary.
through his grief.
“In the last year of his life, he said to me in order
to deal with grief, he’d like to install three gardens with me. Each will be a perennial garden,” explained Richardson. “His hopes were that when the plants started to come back and he was gone, that I
would continue to love, nurture, and care for these gardens.”
He went on to explain how his brother considered
himself an annual, his life cycle was complete after death. The gardens were perennials, coming back each year to remind him that nature has a plan to help heal the soul.
Seven years later, Richardson found himself in a rut. He had been gardening, but they had become much more elaborate than he anticipated. He com- pared his gardens to English gardens — “well com- posed and too proper.”
“I had the reality check of realizing that my per- sonality is one that could go much further than I ever thought I could go,” said Richardson. “And after seven years, I looked at my gardens and thought I wasn’t comfortable with myself. I had to be really committed to these gardens until I figured it out.”
Then his mindset changed: he wanted to hard- scape. Hardscaping is another word for landscaping, but defines what an environmental artist truly is. They work with stone, trees, flowers, and the land- scape to create something beautiful.
His first hardscape piece was a fire pit and water- fall to the right of his deck. He explained to Business- West that it was the first project he’s done that took control of itself. He usually plans ahead, and sets out a purpose for his pieces, but once he started build- ing this feature, it kept dictating what it wanted to do next.
“It was a major piece because I didn’t know what or why I was building it,” he explained. “It allowed me to trust myself and it allowed me to realize that when you have an intuition, that overrides every- thing else. And that’s what was going on; I had intu- ition on what I was doing.”
Grief had led him to gardening and hardscap- ing once again — this piece became the final resting spot for his oldest daughter, Tina. He said he didn’t understand the meaning behind his first piece and
to just spontaneously throw himself into a year and a half project speaks to the willingness to see where it would take him. Richardson said he was willing to see where the art would take him.
And that is how he came up with the name, Three Sisters Sanctuary. After the loss of his oldest daugh- ter, he named the gardens to represent the bond of his three daughters: Tina, Sara, and Megan.
All three women were born and raised on the land now dedicated to the sanctuary. Richardson said
that they have always “encouraged and contributed to the ever-evolving outdoor healing space since the beginning.”
Leave Your Baggage at the Door
Starting a new art piece means being in the trenches for three to 10 years, fully immersing him- self in his art, Richardson told BusinessWest. One of those projects is his famous ‘Fyre Dragon.’
“The project had a funny feel to it because the dragon was so intriguing; it was so wonderful to build something like that — I mean come on, who gets the chance to build a dragon in their lifetime?” he asked rhetorically. “Especially when you don’t know what you’re doing, which is half the attraction to my art. I generally build things with the belief that Iwasmeanttodoit—Iwasmeanttobuildthat dragon.”
After the dragon was finished, he said that he was concerned that his work was finished. It was hard
to look up when it felt like the end seemed so far. Richardson said it reminded him of the Frank Sinatra song, Is That All There Is? He was worried it wouldn’t hold the magic he anticipated, but the community
Three Sisters
Continued on page 51
Michael Lynch
Michael Lynch
Barbara-Jean Deloria
Barrbara-Jean DelLorriia
Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty
James Michael Montemayor Davey
Henry "Hank" Downey
Henry "Hank" Downey
Joe Doug Kulig Gilbert
Joe Doug Kulig Gilbert
To us,
To us,
James Michael Montemayor Davey
business is personal.
business is personal.
We listen more than we talk.
We listen more than we talk.
No, really.
florencebank.com/business-banking florencebank.com/business-banking
No, really.
Member FDIC / Member DIF Member FDIC / Member DIF
BusinessWest
SPORTS & LEISURE
SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 19