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Tacky or Art? It's just a state of mind.

© Vicki Paull

As we drifted in the pool, sipping Margaritas, we contemplated the origins of "tacky." Did it start with the ancients? Like, did a lady Neanderthal overdress in Zebra skin when the sedate browns of Saber Tooth were all the rage? Or did some Roman matron decorate her rotunda with mosaics of her teen idol, in garish tones, and call it "Art?" Of course it could have been a man. When I look at some military uniforms, I am sure it was a man!

What, though, is tacky water garden art? It all depends on your state of mind. What is tacky to one is art to another. (I'm glad the world is big enough for us all.) To some, plastic Amazon tree frogs look great clinging to the side of a water fall. Or a submerged cement crocodile adds a little something.

To Charlotte, the Spanish moss and chicken wire Bigfoot swaying in the breeze is the perfect guard for her pond.

Wooden wishing well? She wouldn't have one, at least not a plain one. Try putting palm fronds on it and calling it a sugar shack.

The most curious items, pond side, are the seats. I can't call them chairs. They are decorative concrete block stools. The blocks have been marbleized in shades of orange, green, and purple. If you sit on them too long, you end with an embossed bottom, which will add interest to any pool party. When asked about the origins of her designs, her ideas, she just smiles and says "When I see something I like, that makes me feel good when I look at it, I just go home and make it."

I think that is the true origin of "tacky." It is something that makes you feel good, silly, or maybe it just makes you laugh. Tacky is fun!

Here is a tacky water garden art project. I got the idea from reading a post in the rec.ponds news group. The original message was a question about how to keep the water shaded until your plants get big enough to do the job. Some float plastic container lids (Ugh!) Some float chunks of Styrofoam. (Yuck!) One fellow suggested making floats out of "Great Stuff©" expanding foam. Noting that you could stick flowers in them before the stuff sets up. OK! I have added a twist of my own. Candles, Citronella candles. Maybe it will help with the Skeeters too!