Cheekwood Gardens - Nashville, TN

A Relaxing Day of Garden Exploration at Cheekwood...

Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too. – William Cowper

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.  – Anais Nin

I need an explanation for this statue. I've searched for its origin and reluctantly decided to resume my research at a later time. I WILL find out your specifics, Ms. half-lion/dog/lady statue. I do know a lot about Egyptian influence in American art now, but still don't know enough. I've googled a lot but still can't find who donated this, where it came from, and- more importantly- what it means and WHY it's at Cheekwood! Anybody got an answer? I know all about history of other statues since my search results had everything except what I had searched! Help me out if you've got some info, folks! I've requested answers from Cheekwood, via email...I'll let you know what I find soon!

Hi Ms. Hodge,

The 2 sphinx statues in the Color Garden were given to Cheekwood by the Harvey Family.  The Harvey family had a large department store in Nashville for many years.  They had purchased the statues while traveling in Europe.  Other than that, we have no information about what estate or owner they came from.

Sorry I can’t be any more help concerning your question.  We’re glad to know you enjoyed your visit to Cheekwood.

Sincerely,

Christine

"...a garden is like life: something is always doing well, something is struggling,
something is being born anew, and something is dying." - Edith Reed

"Nothing is more the child of art than a garden."  - Sir Walter Scott

"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors
are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again." 
- Elizabeth Lawrence

"He is happiest who hath power to gather wisdom from a flower."
- Mary Howitt

"To create a little flower is the labor of ages." 
- William Blake

"A beautiful blossom is a fleeting thing
It stays for a moment and then takes wing..."
- Albert Richards

"The flower is the poetry of reproduction.
It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life." 
- Jean Giraudoux

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it,
it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to
someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they
 have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it
whether they want to or not."
- Georgia O'Keefe

“I don’t generally like running. I believe in training by rising gently up and down from the bench.”

- Satchel Paige

You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry, don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.

- Walter Hagen

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?
- Henry David Thoreau

Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.

Voltaire

The sound of water says what I think.

Chuang Tzu

Love is the only water that can quench the heart's thirst.

David Kam

 In one drop of water are found all the secrets of the oceans.  -Kahlil Gibran

True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. – William Penn

 

Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet. - Plato

There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.  ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. – Helen Keller

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

"Orange is the happiest color." -- Frank Sinatra

Memory is a net: one that finds it full of fish when he takes it from the brook, but a dozen miles of water have run through it without sticking. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness. It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a rosebud, a child at play, a Divine mystery, or a waterfall.”

- Fulton J. Sheen

https://www.cheekwood.org/About.aspx

“If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.” – James A. Michener

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. – Robert Frost

Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.

- George Washington Carver

Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. 

 -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Every dew-drop and rain-drop had a whole heaven within it.”

 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into.  ~Henry Beecher, Life Thoughts, 1858

“Our senses are indeed our doors and windows on this world, in a very real sense the key to the unlocking of meaning and the wellspring of creativity.” – Jean Houston

 

“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.”

 – Henry David Thoreau

“Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains…”

- Diane Ackerman

Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of a bench when there is plenty of room at both ends”

I often lay on that bench looking up into the tree, past the trunk and up into the branches. It was particularly fine at night with the stars above the tree.
- Georgia O’Keefe

Great resources for educators- Cheekwood Garden Guides help kids learn on their field trip to the botanical garden. You can view this Garden Adventure guide by visiting http://www.cheekwood.org/Education/School_Programs/Botanical_Garden_Tours.aspx  (I know my teacher sister will love this- she's been looking for excuses to take her class on a trip! :)

Since there's so much to see, it's wise to have a map to plan your day!

 

Photo: Courtesy of Mr. Stylus, who failed miserably at picture clarity and sharpness. However, despite my dying camera's shortcomings, I like the effect of this watercolor-looking snapshot. Thank goodness my mom brought her fancy shmancy camera...I have GOT to get one like it!

For Mama...to forever remember one of our best picture-taking days, spent together. We should go back soon. :)