Wine hallucinations…

One of the most bizarre sights you will notice as you wind your way into Wine Country from San Francisco is a old, twisted Oak tree…covered in sky blue balls. The tree is the centerpiece for a collection of installation art gardens called Cornerstone Gardens–kindof like what Cinderella’s Castle is to Disneyland without the moat.

I’m sure that most people barely tap the brakes for a second glance at what surrounds this tree, but Jeff and I stopped in. I’m glad we did. What we discovered was a series of about two dozen “gardens,” designed and installed by regional landscape and installation artists. Visitors are encouraged to walk among and into the gardens and experience them up close.

For reference, the tree is simply called Blue Tree. It is an old tree from the site that has been “visually erased” from the skyline by the blue Christmas balls against the blue sky.

Possibly our favorite exhibit was a room-like installation comprised of nothing more than hay-bale walls and a make of screen doors. While inside the room, our ears were blasted by hidden speakers playing a crackly continuous loop of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”.

It would be impossible to fully describe the full set of “art” that followed. As with most modern art, we liked some of it and found other parts dull. It definitely made for some fun photos 🙂