Mario Da Silva was born in Portugal and trained in stone by his father, an expert stone artisan. Mario's dreams, however, went beyond stone walls and hardscapes. His passion was painting landscapes and making a living from his artwork.

Life's circumstances moved Da Silva from Portugal to the United States. To support his family, he went from capturing the beauty of nature on canvas to developing skills to manage crews and resources for multi-million dollar projects in New York.

During his career, Mario has overseen the installation, drainage, grading and landscaping for miles of New York city streets as well as projects at JFK International Airport. He has also provided the grading for Yankee Stadium and the Whiteston Jack Nicklaus Golf Course in Purchase, New York. He provided interior stone work on the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.

When Mario moved to Georgia, he returned to his stone artisan skills. Instead of painting landscapes on canvas, Mario created a picture of landscaped perfection with his medium of dirt, water, concrete, stones, plants, and trees. His palette of natural elements are carefully chosen for color, texture and placement.

To accent his gardens, Mario developed his own painting techniques and acid washes to fashion garden sculptures out of cement. Over a period of days, cement is washed in shades of colors applied in layers. His sculptures need months of weathering but he intuitively envisions his end result.

Da Silva gardens combine the wonder of nature with artistic expression. Visitors to his gardens experience the magic of walking through an artist’s painting. Sounds of waterfalls and birds singing combine with the movement of trees swaying in the breeze. During the day, the sun reflects diamonds of color. At night, lights dance in his garden oasis.

Pictures can not capture the expanse and celebration of nature in this artist's creation. His works of art in the garden have to be experienced.