 Home
> Exhibitions > Spirit of the
Garden
Spirit of the Garden
- April 2000
Page 2
Gardens have been a popular subject for writing
and painting for centuries, from Persian court painters to
William Morris and the English Pre- Raphaelites. In my reading
around the subject, I discovered that artists and gardeners
have always worked together.
Artists have often provided initial inspiration
for great gardens. What I found more interesting was that
even in the Elizabethan era, those artists were often women.
Women embroidered ideas for gardens and were inspired in turn
to illustrate what they saw, creating and ultimately influencing
the fashions of the day in decorative and "high" art which
were mostly created by men.
In the nineteenth century, before printed garden
catalogues existed, painters provided illustrations for plants
and styles of gardens, which they invented for gardeners to
realize. There were several women garden designers/painters
who have had a strong influence in the way in which our contemporary
gardens have evolved. I feel that as a painter I am comfortable
following in this tradition, as I explore my interest in domestic
space and personal histories.
My present work uses imagery and ideas from
the garden. They are not direct illustrations of gardens,
although they are inspired by features from my present garden
and the European gardens of my childhood. In my life and family
history, events and narrative has often taken place in gardens.
The paintings include figures from my memory or old photographs.
I wanted them to become as part of the plants and objects,
rather than as a dominant focus.
In some of the paintings I have melted them
almost entirely into garden imagery. As a child, I thought
of the garden as my "queendom"; a stage for playing along
with a cast of imaginary characters. I have tried to bring
this idea out in my work, because I still regard the garden
as a place where I play!
|
|
|
