Asian Meadow The Asian Meadow pays homage to the years that Patterson and her family lived in China. Above a stream lined with water-loving plants, a group of six steel carp flash in mid-air. Following a tradition in Chinese painting, the carp stand for the artist’s family: five small fish for her children and one big…
Memory Posts Patterson Webster Memory Post I and Memory Post II 2007–2008 Pine tree trunks, acrylic paint Collection of the artist These sculptural works are memorials to people who were important in her life: her father, a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law. Patterns on each post, which the artist has dubbed ‘memory posts,’ recall the personality…
Webster’s Column Patterson Webster Webster’s Column 2011 Glass, stainless steel, newspapers, granite In this work, the artist honours the journalistic career of her husband, Norman Webster, by playing on different meanings of “column”: a sculptural form, often used commemoratively; a vertical division of a page or text; and a recurring opinion piece in a periodical.…
Woodland Path A path covered with wood chips marks a transition from the formal gardens surrounding the house to a garden designed by nature. Wooden stairs wind their way up the hillside, through fern woods and past a mossy well that supplied water to a bygone summer cottage.
Lower Garden The Lower Garden is situated below the house and some 25 feet above Lake Massawippi. It combines a rock garden on a steep hillside and slate-edged beds on flat grassy ground to create a serene flower-filled garden room. A fieldstone wall provides a visual anchor at the base of the rock garden. The…
Tree Rings Patterson Webster Tree Rings 2015 Stainless steel, steel Collection of the artist Situated next to the house at Glen Villa, this sculpture wraps metal rings around the trunk of a maple tree that was blown over in a wind storm. The bottom and top rings are laser-cut with the dates 1848 and 2014,…
House, Entry Garden and The Writing is on the Wall The house was built in the late 1960s to replace a summer cottage. Designed by architect Robert Humphreys, it is modernist in style. By incorporating materials common to this area of Quebec (fieldstone foundations, barnboard siding and cedar-shingle roofing), the contemporary design fits comfortably into…
Cascade The Cascade pairs lush, deer-resistant perennial plantings with contemporary design in a naturalistic water feature. A stream from the hills above the house flows over a rock “spout” before continuing down through the Aqueduct to Lake Massawippi, showcasing the many ways in which water is used in the garden.
Aqueduct The Aqueduct is a contemporary water feature showcasing the many sounds made by a stream as it makes its way from the Cascade above the driveway to Lake Massawippi below. The stream, channelled into an elevated steel rill, flows down chains into a rectangular reflecting pool edged with stainless steel. From there, it slips…
Big Meadow, Grass Snake, Récolte and Untitled 1983 The Big Meadow is a work in progress. After decades of cutting the grass, nature is being allowed to reclaim this lakeside expanse. A single mown path now leads across the meadow to an enormous multi-trunked American linden tree. A six-sided wooden bench encircles the linden, offering…
