Over the last year since May 2021 I have been making monthly visits to Great Dixter Garden at Northiam ,East Sussex to draw and explore with the intention of developing a new body of work for my exhibition planned for October 2022 at the Jeannie Avent Gallery in East Dulwich in south london . I first visited Dixter several years ago and was captivated by the planting , the atmosphere and the friendliness and a somehow magical ambiance . Fergus Garrett is now head gardener trained by Christopher Lloyd who sadly passed away several years ago and continues Christos vision .
The garden is a series of rooms . The style of planting has a wild feel and presents a canvas of shapes , colours and a wide variety of home grown plants . For two days a week in May ,June, July ,September and October with April’s session still to come in a concertina sketch book on prepared pages using soft pastels I made drawings in different parts of the garden of plants I was drawn to .
I am now developing these drawings into embroideries and prints .
The image below is the first drawing made in May 2021 of the Topiary Garden .
