AN EXOTIC GARDEN IN FLORIDA &
A GLASS HOUSE ON STATEN ISLAND
INSPIRED TWO SERIES
FLORDIA
LUMINOSITY SUITE
VALKARIA GARDENS under Dr. Brown was a lush tropical oasis of palms, bamboos, fruit trees, bromeliads, flowering landscape plants, and many hard to find, unusual tropical specimens.
B. Frank Brown Ed. D. retired Brevard County School Superintendent, and Valkaria Gardens founder, traveled the world with US government license to bring back exotic plants since 1988.
When I met him, he was 94.
Cleofar Millare made Valkaria Gardens a reality. I have so many exquisite photos taken in the limited hours I was granted access, since, in the late 1990s, the garden was not regularly open to the public.
Today it is no longer an exotic enclave, but rather a thriving retail garden in the Valkaria section of Palm Bay, Florida.
Valkaria Gardens - as it was under Dr. Brown -
remains my favorite garden.
I hope my paintings are keeping the dream alive today.
STATEN ISLAND
NYC GIVERNY
I moved back to New York City in 2001 to discover The Carl Grillo Glasshouse at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center on the North Shore, not far from the Ferry. In a state of benign neglect and open during Park hours, it yielded images with a wild, uncultivated feeling. I spent hours taking photos, visiting again and again. Today it is open mostly for tours, is much more manicured, and is used for propagation.
Click here to see LUMINOSITY SUITE
inspired by Valkaria Gardens
The Glasshouse became my NYC Giverny. But, unlike Monet,
I did not have to create it and maintain it. I just had to find it.
The Glasshouse - as it used to be -
remains inspiration for a continuing series.
