Inspiration for Heavenly Gardens Journal

The inspiration for Heavenly Gardens came initially from a lovely Saturday afternoon spent doodling in my garden. I couldn’t think of a more perfect or heavenly way to spend a few hours. It was warm and sunny, my cats kept dropping by and keeping me company for a while, bees were buzzing and birds were singing. I knew I had found my title

But gardens mean more to me than that. I’ve always loved being in my garden, be it actually gardening, or reading, or knitting, or having a cup of tea etc. My garden is my oasis of calm. It’s my space to paint with plants, to watch nature and to chart the passage of the seasons. It helps me to put things into perspective as it reminds me of the great cycle of life and that my petty worries are just that, petty worries.

My garden is a small town garden that I’ve transformed from a square of gravel with shrubs around the edge into a curvy, flowing, riot of colours, textures and scents. It is tousled, abundant and productive, with vegetables mingled in with flowers.

My artist’s eye is always on the look out for vignettes, so empty clay pots are not just stacked up but ‘displayed’, alongside old-fashioned metal watering cans and some of my own clay vessels. I hang charms from trees and arches.

I love my roses best of all. Even though my garden is small I have still managed to get 7 roses in so far. I love ramblers, climbers and bush roses, nothing neat and manicured, just alive with colour, scent and sheer exuberance.

The title Heavenly Gardens also links with my love of old cemetaries, the calmness, the serenity and most of all the statues. I adore the Victorian angels, broken columns and cherubs, overgrown with ivy. Alive with bygone symbolism and elegance.

So this is what Heavenly Gardens encapsulates for me. It will be really interesting to see what it means to the other 14 artists in this swap.