06-19-03 | Library Wall Dedicated
August 11, 2005
Del Mar's Pat Welsh Delights Children of All Ages With New Book to Benefit Branch Library
For 49 years, this master gardener, author and watercolorist has drawn inspiration from her ocean-view home atop old Del Mar.
During that time, Pat Welsh published four gardening books, wrote more than 100 columns on the subject and appeared on more than 500 network and cable broadcasts as she shared her expert opinions and doled out decades of advice. She also was the first garden editor of San Diego Home/Garden Magazine and "resident gardener" for KNSD Channel 7/39.
She was awarded a local Emmy, honored by the San Diego Press Club and, most recently, was named Horticulturist of the Year 2003 by the San Diego Horticultural Society.
For Welsh, it's always been about inspiration.
At a meeting of the Del Mar Garden Club in May 2002, Welsh overheard Thania Griffith say, "I wish someone would do something about that ugly concrete-block wall in front of the library."
That was all the inspiration Welsh and fellow artist Betsy Schulz needed to launch into what became known as The Del Mar Library Wall Mixed-Media Mural throughout the rest of that year and into 2003.
"Basically, what happened was, Betsy Schulz and I teamed up after I had built a mixed-media mural in my garden," she said.
Welsh said it was a "miracle that it all happened in one year."
The mural inspired Welsh's fifth and latest book, The Magic Mural and How It Got Built, A Fable for Children of All Ages, which was not originally intended as a children's book.
"In the middle of creating the mural, I got the idea we better write a book about it," Welsh said.
The book, she said, "was the fulfillment of a life-long dream."
When it came time to write the book, the ugly wall comment was reduced to more of a catalyst to create the mural, not the tale. Welsh said the Santa Ana winds, and not a Pacific sea breeze, would be the inspiration for The mural in the story.
"The Santa Ana wind plays a part in the story since it personifies the way artists get their ideas," she said.
"Many artists know the feeling of having an idea drop into the top of their mind and don't know quite where it comes from. In this story," said Welsh, "the Santa Ana plays the role of inspiration."
A year after writing the first draft, Welsh said the finished project tells the story of the mural in the form of a fable for children with a few well-placed morals. Parents, when they read the story aloud to children, will discover how to build a mural - an activity the entire family can do together.
Of the morals in the story, Welsh said, "The obvious one is you can accomplish a great deal by working with other people in a community."
Perhaps it was through Divine Inspiration that Welsh and Schulz were introduced to each other, conceived the mural, fostered a friendship and worked on the book together.
Schulz, a graphic and landscape artist designed the format of the book and supplied photographs to complement Welsh's text and original artwork.
Another moral deals with opposition.
"You don't want to fold up at that moment if you have a good idea. Having a little opposition only creates greater strength," she said.
But the most compelling of the morals is about inspiration.
"By picturing your dreams," she said, "you can have your dreams come true."
Welsh said she expects the book to be available at Earth Song Books in Del Mar, The Book Works in Flower Hill Mall and at her appearances and book signings throughout Southern California. It also will be sold at the Del Mar branch library and, eventually, libraries throughout the state and southwest.
"From the beginning, the book was conceived as a fund-raiser for the Friends of the Del Mar Library and as a way that the library could explain the story of the mural to the many visitors who ask about it," she said.
Other books by Welsh include: Pat Welsh's Southern California Gardening: A Month-by Month Guide (1991 and revised in 2000), All My Edens; A Gardener's Memoir (1996) and American Horticultural Society Southwest Smart Garden Regional Guide (2004).
To learn more about the author and the wall, visit www.patwelsh.com
On Sept. 24, Welsh is tentatively scheduled to present "Pruning Secrets for All Seasons" as part of the San Diego Master Gardener Fall Seminar of events at a local junior high or middle school to be determined. For updated information, as it becomes available, visit www.mastergardenerssandiego.org.
Lee Schoenbart is the former North Coast community news editor with the San Diego Union-Tribune. The above article published in the Rancho Santa Fe Review, Del Mar Village Voice and Carmel Valley News where Lee occasionally freelances. Lee is a realtor with Prudential California Realty in Mission Hills.
