Posted by Sunset, July 2, 2009 in Hardscape
, People
, Techniques
By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine
Photographs by David Meyer
It all started three years ago: One of Jane Hart’s neighbors had some old fence wood she didn’t need, and another had a scroll saw she was willing to loan out. Jane put the two together and launched a new phase in her Portland, OR, garden art business. Since then she’s designed fences, gates, arbors, sitting areas, potting sheds, even wing walls to hide compost bins. With her husband David Meyer doing the construction, Jane can see the whole process through in a way her clients love.
“My mother was a scavenger,” says Jane, “way before the Rebuilding Center opened in Portland. She did cutouts on our house, on railings, even under the bannister. You see the same thing on old houses all over Portland.” The idea stuck in Jane’s mind, and she ran with it.
When a client hires her, she starts by spending time with them. “It’s fun to go to people’s houses and see their influences,” she says. “then I do the design. In fact, it’s so fun that I obsess over it. Somebody wants a drawing, I make 20. It’s hard to stop!”
She does cutouts to fit just about any space. “I can do a whole fence, or just make one section more interesting.” And though she started out using old fence wood, she’s willing to work with new wood as well. “But everybody likes old wood. In three years, I’ve only done one job with new wood.”
You can reach Hart through her web site, Jane Hart Design.
