A sense of place

Grasses at a local nature reserve

In the summer, the garden is the place that I spend most of my time. I enjoy drawing and tending to the plants as well as enjoying the peace and relaxation that being outside in green space offers. The plants are constantly changing, new plants emerging or flowering as others die back and disappear for another year. There are only finite windows of opportunity to capture the shapes of leaves and flowers and enjoy the colours and scents.

I pull a plastic chair out of the summerhouse and set myself up with my sketchbook and pencils next to an interesting looking plant. I start with some blind contour drawing with a 2B or 4B pencil and see where that takes me. Sometimes I like to draw more considered studies and other times I will just run with the blind contour drawings, layering them on top of each other or experimenting with some pens or inks. Twigs dipped in ink can give some interesting marks and a lovely uneven quality to the linework. I work my way around the garden for as long as I have that day, drawing the plants that interest me. Sometimes I am only outside for 10 or 15 minutes and other days it might be a few hours.

Blind contour drawings done in the garden

Sometimes, if I have a whole morning, I will go to the National Trust Cliveden estate which is about 10-15 minutes away from where I live. There are formal gardens as well as a woodland. Year round interest can be found in the formal gardens and, in the autumn and winter, I love to walk through the woodlands too. I like to draw the plants in the herbaceous borders of the long garden as well as looking for natures treasures in the woodland. Investigation of the forest floor reveals many interesting twigs, cones and leaves, some of which I will draw or bring home for my nature collection. I love to collect interesting nature finds when I am out walking, to draw or include in my work, but I am conscious to only take a small amount from any place at any given time in order not to disturb nature’s routines.

I also love to visit the RHS garden at Wisley or Waterperry gardens in Oxfordshire. Again, I will draw the plants at different points throughout the year and witness the way in which the changing seasons play out in the borders. It is also a good opportunity to make notes about the plants that I would like to try and grow myself at home from seed. This year I have grown quite a few flowers from seeds at home. The orlaya has been successful and there are lots of lovely cosmos, marigold and sweet pea flowers. My asters are looking promising for late summer too. The sunflowers were disappointing but the few that did flower were beautiful. Only having a few flowers makes them all the more special when they appear. Floral treasure.

Vase of flowers cut from the garden in May

In my work, I try to capture the spirit of a place at a particular point in the season. Drawing plants is a big part of this, as well as mark making with found twigs and other natural treasures. I also like to use eco-printing to capture marks from leaves. This involves wrapping the leaves in mordanted fabric or paper, tying them tightly and either boiling or steaming them. I like the texture that this technique produces on the cloth or paper and the colours that emerge from the different leaves. It is exciting to untie the parcels and discover what has been produced on each piece. Although I have control over the placement of the leaves on the substrate, there is still an element of serendipitous unknown at work once you start to ‘cook’ them. This is one of the things I love about the process; it makes me surrender control and accept whatever appears. It eliminates my perfectionism and encourages me to embrace the wabi-sabi, imperfect beauty of nature.

Eco-print on silk

One of the things that fascinates me about nature is the way in which places change through the different seasons. A place remains the same whilst, simultaneously, looking very different. The new shoots of spring grow into the lush foliage of summer before fading through the autumn and dying back to leave the bare stems of winter. The cycle repeats every year and yet no years are ever exactly the same. The routine is reliable but there are always subtle variations to be observed and recorded. Getting out and about throughout the year to experience gardens and woodland has become a highlight for me. I am curious to see what has changed since the last time I visited a place and record my findings in my sketchbooks as well as looking for and admiring nature’s treasure. These are the days that fill me with gratitude and joy.