Just out., March 17, 2000, Page 26, Image 26

• march 17.20ÛÛ
26
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we aren’t thankful that we get to
exactly what we want."
A nd for his part, Hills never for­
gets his partner’s encouragement.
“1 wouldn’t be doing any of this i
we hadn’t met— not even kinda!"
says.
Both men left their rural home­
towns in search of gay community
in a city, and Hills believes so man
queers are artists because “we think
outside the box— it’s easier to envi­
sion a different lifestyle.”
He continues: “ It’s expanded my
options and my horizons. Because
I’m queer, I’m free. Society shunned
me at an early age, but now 1 can d
whatever I want.”
His lover is quick to add, “1 thank
G od every day I’m queer.”
You’ll thank heaven if you stop by
their amazing oasis some fine day
and see what the power of love,
imagination and hard work can cre­
ate.
T
hink of your garden as an out­
door room o f your house, then
the importance of accessorising
becomes clear.
Bending the stereotype ot gay
intenor designers, the delightfully
queer duo Danny Hills and Wayne
Hughes are exuberantly creative
exterior designers. Though they also
do some garden design, their spe­
cialty- is creating garden furniture
and structures.
Together for 12 years, these two
men have forged an incredible part­
nership and have made gardens
their path in life. Though he went
to art school, Danny Hills had
abandoned his artistic dreams until
he met Wayne Hughes at a gym.
Soon he was showing Hughes his
etchings and getting inspired to cre­
ate again.
“My whole job has been to
encourage him ever since, to put
both palms to his ass and push," says
Hughes, with characteristic humor.
Hills designs whimsical yet stur­
dy garden furniture, fences, trellises,
arbors and so forth, while Hughes
builds them in their workshop. Each winter
they develop a new line of designs, then hold
an op>en house in June. During the summer
more than 5,000 people tour their city acre of
imagination and leave orders for their designs.
During the fall and winter they fill their
orders and begin the cycle anew.
While Hills dreams up new ideas, Hughes
is the master organizer, businessman and pro­
moter. It’s a perfectly symbiotic relationship
that produces something far greater than tbe
sum of its parts.
From the beginning, they’ve taken on the
never-ending project of restoring their 1898
home and turning it into a gallery for their
creations and the grounds into a garden show-
place. They were so absorbed by their projects
and each other that they admit to having
been antisocial during their early years togeth­
er. It was then Hughes and Hills decided to
call their place Lonesomeville.
“The world still doesn’t make a lot of sense
to me,” Hughes confesses. “I’m in it for the
fun.”
Hills states their common goal: “A cre­
ative, independent lifestyle seeking simple
beauty. Life is a vacation, it’s all fun— even
when we’re working, it’s too enjoyable to be a
job.”
Now that they both work full-time for
themselves, their life together has taken on an
A
The big pavoff: seasons of spectacular color at Lonesomeville
organic quality that integrates work and play
so well there is little difference between the
two. Hills is able to take more time for his
fine art— he is also a gifted painter and
•
i
-
ceramist— and they’ve hired other craftsmen
to help fabricate their designs.
Hughes is quick to acknowledge their great
fortune: “There is not a day that goes by that
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ccessories also play a big role in
the life of landscape designer
Hollyann Hood, who augment­
ed her degree in agriculture with
further studies in landscape design, then last
fall opened Hollyhocks, a store overflowing
with beautiful things for the garden.
. W hile she still finds time to design, most
of her time is filled with running her shop.
“My focus is on local artists and one-of-a-
kind garden art,” Hood explains. “I don’t
have anything you’d find at a big box store.’’
Indeed, her cozy space feels like the inside
of a greenhouse and is the antithesis of shop­
ping at Freddie’s.
She also features lots ot recycled garden
art, refurbished furniture and new objects
made from old, weathered wood. You’ll also
find framed botanical art, gardening tools,
unique bent-copper trellises and arbors, and
elegant decorative pots. Many o f these pieces
would work equally well indoors.
Hood is overjoyed at the positive response
to her store.
“You couldn’t do anything better than
this— making people happy with their land­
scape,” she says.
■ ORIANA GREEN learned to crawl and walk in
her grandfather’s greenhouse and comes by her
love of gardening genetically. She is also the
Entertainment Editor of Just Out and can be
reached at onana@justout.com
I he bluebirds ot happiness have descended into Lonesomeville: Danny Hills (seated) and
Wayne Hughes enjoy their rocking bluebird love seat
th e lo w e s t p ric e s .
our m am s are very proud o f us.
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