Sorticulture offers a sprinkling of art

Mesmerizing.

It's not the first word you might think of when imagining a great piece of garden art.

But it's the one Steve Hopkins hears all the time.

His copper and glass sprinklers don't just add an element of art to gardens, they also put on a show.

Two copper circles, a small one mounted inside a larger one, spin in different directions, flinging thin streams of water up and out in crisscrossing arrays.

“People will stop in their tracks and look at it because it's so cool,” said 48-year-old Hopkins, who lives with his 7-year-old son, Quinn, in Bothell. “It is a mesmerizing visual effect.”

Hopkins, who works as a human resources manager in Seattle, will sell his work this weekend at Sorticulture, Everett's 13th annual garden and arts festival, which opens its free, three-day run on Friday.

Hopkins will have a collection of his shiny sculptures on hand, but it's the videos he'll be showing at his booth that will win him the most sales, he said.

This will be Hopkins' third year as Hoppy's Garden Art at Sorticulture, where he'll explain why his sprinklers are so enchanting.

“They counterrotate independently,” he said of the circles. “There is this optical illusion that happens. They look like they're switching directions on you.”

Hopkins' 4-foot-tall copper sprinklers are each accented with a single, colorful glass ball. Even when they aren't spraying water, they sparkle in the sun and play with the light.

Hopkins, who grew up on Vashon Island, has always enjoyed doing projects and working with his hands.

In 2000, he started making wood trellises with copper accents and eventually started selling them at the Woodinville Farmers Market. His customers asked if he could turn one of his spiral copper trellises into a sprinkler.

After searching around online for just the right parts, he was able to do it, and he's been building a fan base ever since.

Hopkins, who went by Hoppy as a kid, said more than half of his clients are people with kids or pets who like to play in the spray of his sprinklers. That includes his son.

“He wears his little water goggles,” Hopkins said. “It's so cute.”

Most homes have enough water pressure to throw water over an area 15 feet in diameter using the sprinklers. Homes with high water pressure may extend that reach up to 40 feet.

People who rely on well water or have exceptionally low water pressure, however, may have trouble running the sprinklers properly.

Though similar sprinklers can be found at hardware stores for far less than the $190 Hopkins will be charging at Sorticulture, they aren't the same thing, he said.

Those are often made with copper-plated metals and cheaper hardware. His are just copper, glass and brass fittings.

“There's no plastic,” he said. “There's nothing to wear out.”

For optimum performance, Hopkins recommends customers clean the sprinklers' brass fittings with steel wool to remove water deposits.

Because the sprinklers are copper, which easily reacts to the elements outdoors, they will change color if left untreated.

Most will turn an old-penny brown in a single season, Hopkins said. It might take years, however, for a green patina to emerge.

Special products are available to accelerate the patina process or, for people who want to keep the new copper look, it can be coated with an acrylic clear coat or car wax, Hopkins said.

“I like it to stay shiny. It glints more,” Hopkins said. “It really is personal preference.”

Hopkins enjoys making art that puts on a show and serves a utilitarian purpose in the garden, too.

“I'm making a piece of art that people fall in love with,” he said. “People like kinetic art. They like functional art.”

Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.

Activities for kids

Active Art & Science : Create your own mosaic stepping stone, framed mirror or trivet using recycled, tumbled stained glass. Cost varies between $4 and $20; www.activeartandscience.com.

Colorful Events: Face painting options include whimsical butterflies, animals, flowers and more from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily; www.colorfulevents.com.

Everett Parks and Recreation: Kids can decorate flower pots and plant seeds to take home for free; www.everettwa.org.

Northwest Wigglers : Kids can make and decorate worm bins while learning about gardening with worms. They can choose from two types of worms to take home for free, European night crawler or red wiggler; www.northwest wigglers.com.

Quilceda Carvers: Kids can watch carving and color wood cutouts to take home for free; www.quilcedacarvers.org.

Hoppy's Garden Art

Find Steve Hopkins at Booth No. 54 next to the Kindergarden. Can't make it to Sorticulture? See www.hoppysgardenart.com to buy sprinklers, watch videos of sprinklers and to find a list of seasonal events featuring the artist and his work.