By Jim McCausland, Sunset senior garden writer

Large, clean, colorful sculptures have their own kind of magnetism—and that’s why sculptor Brian Mackin puts them around the landscape at his Bainbridge Island, Washington, home and studio. “If I drop any of these pieces into a garden, you’re drawn to it,” he says, “and you pass through the rest of the garden along the way.”

He’s right. But to pull it off the pieces have to be big, and anybody who works in clay knows how hard is is to make things large and well. But Mackin has perfected the art, and his pieces sell all over the world. Here are some examples from his own garden. The one below is a classic egg and flute design that has its roots in ancient Greece. I'm 6'2", and I look up at it.

Some pieces are half hidden among perennials and shrubs, while others are out in the open. Nearly all have small bases that make you start asking questions about balance—first in the piece, then in art, then in life.

Mackin will forgive you if you think one of his more famous pieces has a bowling pin shape. This human-size piece doesn't really (he has a bowling pin in the studio to prove his point); but the family resemblence is clear. He likes biomorphic forms. Put two together and people think "pair"; put a big and a little one together and people think "parent and baby." In a way these are mind games, but they're fun.

You can see more of Mackin's work on his web site—and in private and public spaces all over the world.