L.A.-made modern art

If you’re in the market for modern garden sculpture, the options can seem unattainable (think Henry Moore bronzes) or kitschy (Euro-reproductions manufactured in China). But here’s a made-in-L.A. choice that’s interesting and fairly affordable, as these things go: Los Angeles artist and landscape designer Jennifer Gilbert Asher was frustrated with the lack of affordable contemporary sculpture for her clients’ projects, so she began to design her own. Asher teamed up with Mario Lopez, who runs a metal fabrication studio in South Los Angeles, and marketing veteran Karen Neill Tarnowski. Earlier this year they launched Terra Sculpture, pricing the artworks between $1,900 and $2,900. Depending on the piece, a sculpture could be a form of sustainable design. Sculptures are stainless steel, weathered steel and powder-coated steel in Pop-art colors. Many of the nine limited-edition pieces have a see-through quality that works nicely in gardens, and they’re scaled for the residential landscape. One other good reason to add sculpture: Unlike plants, they don’t require water. www.terrasculpture.com.

-- Debra Prinzing