09/16/2026
BROOD PATCH
There’s something especially rewarding about creating a sculpture for someone who wants to be part of the creative process.
“Brood Patch” — by metal artist Milo White
Dan approached me with the opportunity to collaborate on the design of a garden element that would be both sculptural and functional. He wanted to create a place where he and Joanne could sit together, relax, and enjoy their garden—protected from the sun and the rain.
And when you see their garden, the idea makes perfect sense.
Dan and Joanne have created an extraordinary landscape around their home. It’s lush, colorful and wonderfully personal—a garden filled not only with plants, but with sculpture, glass, unexpected objects and little moments of discovery. Art doesn't simply decorate their garden; it lives among the plants and becomes part of the landscape.
So whatever we created, needed to belong there.
From that starting point, the idea evolved together.
What emerged was a monumental wing form—not simply a sculpture to look at, but something you could sit beneath, gather around, and experience from within.
The finished piece sweeps up from the garden and reaches overhead, with individually formed metal feathers creating the shelter of an enormous wing. From underneath, the etched feather patterns catch and play with the changing light; from across the garden, the entire piece reads as one sweeping gesture.
And then came installation day—which, as these photos demonstrate, involved trucks, trailers, ladders, several people pointing at things, a little brute force, and eventually w**e and a fire. 😂
That last part may be my favorite.
Because once Brood Patch was finally standing, it immediately became what Dan and I had hoped it would be: not just a sculpture in the garden, but a place within the garden.
A place to sit.
A place to gather.
A place for Dan and Joanne to share.
A little shelter beneath a wing.
And perhaps most importantly, it feels like it belongs there—as another chapter in a garden that Dan and Joanne have already spent years making entirely their own.
Thank you, Dan, for inviting me into the idea, for being part of the creative process, and to both you and Joanne for giving Brood Patch such an extraordinary place to call home.
“Brood Patch”
Metal sculpture by Milo White / Willowsteel
Collaborative design with Dan
