Last weekend while in New York state giving a presentation and teaching a workshop in Brockport with Norman Haddow at Sara's Garden Centre, we stayed with George Scott at his historic cobblestone house in the country. George is an amazingly creative waller who builds many unusual structures on his own property just outside Brockport. Although he is employed as a firefighter in Rochester, he uses much of his spare time building very professional looking walls, as well as artistic pieces. His dry stone work reflects a competence that suggests that Scott may be turning to walling full-time very soon.
About six years ago George started to build one of his first walls laying the stones in a diagonal arrangement, which gradually turned into a sort of semi-herringbone pattern. Im not sure why I find this wall is so intriguing. Every time I visit this wall captures my imagination possibly because it is vaguely suggestive of curving patterns I've seen somewhere in nature. As Scott took us around his property and we saw some of his other stonework (some of it not yet completed) we sensed that Scott had possibly set out on an unending and delightfully entertaining journey, exploring different styles and even more fanciful designs with each new project.
Here is one of several experimental 'trees' that Scott has built over the years and dotted throughout parts of his enchanted walled garden. Scott is also a knowledgable gardener and horticulturalist as well as part time farmer. He has goats and chickens and raises hounds too. He is interested in all things philosophical and artistic, especially in the context of designing and building structures of dry stone.
