The famous gardener Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) described planting out a garden with language associated with painting. To her, the garden was a blank canvas and plantings were treated as pigments. She talked about “harmonies” and “colour arrangements.’’

Gertrude’s painterly descriptions reflected contemporary ideas in painting.

The sensory effects of a garden can never be fully conveyed in a painting but a painting of a garden can take the viewer on a journey to different places and into the imagination far beyond the confines of the garden itself.

Ref:    The Garden in Art Debra N Mancoff  Merrell London 2012

This group of work, was inspired initially by the gardens at Aurum Winery, Lowburn.

I used photocopies of photos sent to me by the owners and cut them up and shaped them to find the right design.

The idea came about from an approach to Joan and Tony Lawrence of Aurum Wines about using the tasting room for an exhibition space last November 2017, I met Joan at drawing classes held by John Middleditch, a Dunedin Sculptor, in the 1970s, and we held the exhibition in conjunction with the local Rose society and to celebrate the beginning of another season in the vineyard.

It has been an interesting challenge to approach a different subject matter.

This year, I have extended the theme of a garden for this exhibition, to include other gardens, as well as my own.

ODT Art Seen 24/05/2018: LINK