FLAMINGO ROAD IF YOU HAVE A CREATIVE EYE, GARDENS CAN BE WORKS OF ART.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Staff Writer

Garden ornaments don't have to be cast in stone to qualify as art. A splash of paint, porcelain plates or even a flock of fake flamingos can add beauty and charm.

``If you've only got one or two plastic flamingos, it's cheesy, but when you've got a dozen or more, it makes a very humorous statement, especially if you've got the original kind designed by Don Featherstone in the 1950s,'' says Janie Baker, who has planted her half-acre yard in Panoramma City with '50s whimsy that includes these flamingos.

The house is a post-World War II ranch style, so she tried to capture the flavor of the era with native plants, citrus trees and kitschy art forms - from old plates and tea kettles adorning a weathered wooden fence to a discarded tub and toilet turned into planters.

``My Aunt Juanita and my Dad used anything they'd find with a hole - even tires - as a planter,'' she says, ``so I guess you'd say they inspired me to be creative.''

The idea of using ``found'' objects - as well as a paint brush - is apparently appealing to a number of Daily News readers who answered our call for artistic gardens.

On her hikes and garage-sale travels, Mary Jo Pulk of Sunland has picked up a cow skull, Indian stone tools for grinding corn and old baskets. ``I was inspired not necessarily by the art of the late Georgia O'Keeffe, but more by her Arizona desert home,'' Pulk says of her own desert garden.

Former Valley girl Keeyla Meadows, now a professional artist and garden designer known for brilliantly enameled tile work, says she got her inspiration from childhood trips to Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles and to Catalina Island. And in her book ``Making Gardens Works of Art'' (Sasquatch Books; $21.95), Meadows shares some of her artistic expressions, which include lots of tile work as well as eye candy such as yellow tables shaped like lily pads.

``To find that focal point, stretch your imagination,'' Meadows says, ``and don't be afraid to paint your fence fuchsia if it enhances your flowers, and definitely give yourself permission to feel enthusiastic about it.''

Going down the artist's path can be challenging, and self-doubters need only look to established artists for help.

``Whether working in my own garden or a client's, I learned from Monet to look at the garden as if it was going to be painted from several different spots ... and, by doing so, it taught me to look for a focal point,'' Meadows explains.

While Meadows followed Monet's technique, Quartz Hill residents Wesley Allen and Barbara Wells literally copied it. ``When we finished and stood out in front to see how it turned out, our neighbors said it really did look like a Claude Monet painting,'' says Barbara, who planted the design with the help of her gardener.

Other artistic gardeners have used a bucket of paint to extend the boundaries of otherwise ordinary gardens.

Among them is Toluca Lake artist Laura De Ruyter, whose bougainvillea looks as real as the plants she copied, while her porch steps are painted - like flagstone - with hand-painted flower pots at the entry.

``I always look to the flowers for color inspiration, but otherwise I try to incorporate animals like my parrot and the neighbor's cat,'' De Ruyter says. ``And when I paint on anything that's going to get wear and tear, such as steps, I use an acrylic (water-based) paint designed for cement and pool decks.''

Muralist Judi Diamant of Sherman Oaks also uses a paint brush as a garden tool. For her clients, Diamant painted pathways to the beach and charming secret gardens on boundary walls, while John Livingston of Burbank created a High Sierras scene with a lazy river lined with cattails on the side of his neighbor's garage - and then added real river bank plants in front to fool the eye.

Whichever artistic approach you take, the garden should reflect your personality, but the theme should be subtle and well-focused, suggests Deborah Muller Price, author of ``Country Living Garden Decorating'' (Hearst; $23). As an example, she refers to professional gardener and artist Jeanelle Myers, who gave a whimsical look to her formal flower beds by edging them with white dinner plates picked up at garage sales and then continued the theme with tea cups and saucers tucked into other areas of the garden.

By subtle, one guesses she means that if you've got a tea-party theme, you can't have flamingos ... unless you invite the White Rabbit, too.

ART LESSONS

To plant and paint an artful garden, start with a palette of your favorite colors. Pros such as Susie Coelho of HGTV's ``Surprise Gardener'' and Keeyla Meadows, author of ``Making Gardens Works of Art'' (Sasquatch Books; $21.95), advocate the use of paint chips for shopping - whether it's for paint or bedding plants. For more tips, read on:

--The easiest way to introduce color is with painted terra cotta pots and stepping stones.

--Pick a theme that complements your home and creates a focal point of interest. If you're having trouble, look at public gardens or even paintings of garden scenes for ideas.

--Look in your own back yard (or local trash bin) for offbeat ideas, from broken plates to edge a flower bed to footed bathtubs to fill with flowers.

--Make a bold statement by posing groups of shovels, wheelbarrows or watering cans. Repetition is the key, and odd numbers work best.

--Extend your surroundings with landscape murals on fences or garage walls.

--Use geometric shapes and/or flower-filled urns and classical statues to create formality.

--Romantic gardens rely on curves and a mixture of materials, such as a path of broken tiles, concrete or flagstone and bunnies or fairies hiding in the shrubbery.

--Create a variety of textures and heights like you'd find in nature.

- B.D.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) backyard beauty

A little paint and whimsy add creative touch to gardens

(2 -- 3 -- color) Plastic flamingos, above, find a home in Janie Baker's Panorama City yard. Her fence, left, is peppered with other found objects.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

(4 -- color) Toluca Lake artist Laura De Ruyter substitutes paint for plants.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

(5 -- color) De Ruyter's bougainvillea paintings blend with real vegetation at one of her client's homes.

(6) no caption (``Making Gardens Works of Art'')

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ART LESSONS (see text)