HALLOWEEN: GRAVEYARD

Many may find this strange and quite morbid, but I am fascinated by gravestones.  Each stone is a unique work of art reflecting a different lifetime.  One fall weekend, my dad took me and my brothers, to one of the oldest graveyards in our town.  Here, we made sketches and crayon rubbings, of gravestones.  

When we returned home, my dad cut pieces of foam to match the shape of the gravestones.  Next, we spray painted the white foam with various shades of gray and mossy green.  After the paint dried, my brothers and I went to work.  We created an array of funny names and stories about the lives of the members of our fake graveyard.  One of my favorites is "To My Love Jelly Donut."  In addition to names and background stories, we also added gravestone motifs; oak leaves, to symbolize strength, olive trees to symbolize peace, doves to symbolize eternal life and peace, and an urn to symbolize immortality. 

After painting and decorating our gravestones, my dad reinforced the backs with rectangular pieces of ply wood and affixed a stake.  Next we set out to  install our front yard graveyard.  Despite a few unfortunate Cabbage Nights, our graveyard stands through the final weeks of October and Halloween. 
Image by AGA