The Garden Curator

Garden designer | Landscape designer | Landscape illustrator

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pause…look…see…

 

Conceived by artist, horticulturist and garden designer

Colleen Southwell, The Garden Curator is a creative celebration of all things found, inspired by and cultivated in the garden.

Blue Leaf illustration by Colleen Southwell

"Contemporary life has us on a quest seeking elusive contentment in manufactured perfection. My work challenges this pursuit, inviting the onlooker to slow, look closely, engage the imagination and connect with the cycle of life around us, whether it be in our own backyard or the great wide open. In doing so we rediscover perfection in its purest form - emerging buds, the veins of a leaf, the wings of an insect.

As an artist and garden maker, my creative process requires me to do just that. The more my work develops, the more I find myself marvelling over the smallest details.  The daily walk through the paddock to the school bus has become a study in plant forms and insects and the garden provides endless inspiration. Even the “imperfections” are beautiful when observed closely and with an open mind.

Only through slow and mindful attention to detail can I create.  The fragility of my work requires a gentle and respectful hand – the fragility of our environment requires the same.

Pause, look, see. What a lovely relief from these crazy days!"

Colleen Southwell signature

 

 

 

 

 

  • The garden, and ourselves, seem to be permanently coated in a crust of dust at the moment, nearly enough to grow a crop in. It makes me think of the reminders we had as kids to wash our ears, with warning that they'd "grow a crop of potatoes in them" if we didn't. Do you remember, or were you threatened with a different freeloading harvest by your well meaning parents? Well, despite fastidious washing, I think our daily facial dust collection could sprout a few carrot seeds at least, and there's little need for fake tan. I'm off to the hairdresser tomorrow, who knows what she'll find. Shunning the dust, the grass Stipa Beth Chatto is in full firecracker form now, along with Calamagrostis, and the Miscanthus about to burst. They are holding the garden together - it's otherwise crispy. We are missing the lovely self seeded blooms this year, simply not enough water to see them beyong babies to reasonable growth.The Drumstick Alliums are about to pop though, cheery globes on swaying stalks, so too the summer perennials that have been stoic enough to cope with the wind and dry. So, we'll channel the dry garden legend Beth Chatto herself, and solidier on. We will wear our shell of earth as a mark of stoicism, and enjoy the tinge it adds to otherwise fair skin. Gritty perhaps, but far less pungent or hideously Orange than the stuff from a bottle! Could be something in it...?🤔
  • How odd it has been sitting in the studio today, preparing final end of year commissions, the second day of summer, heater on and flourishes of sleet outside.  Meanwhile reports of bushfires continue, contrasting with others declaring snow to 600metres across the colder parts of Australia. By their pure rhythmic nature, the seasons have long been a source of comfort for the human race.  Something to set the clock by..tick..tick..tick. To mark annual celebrations and holiday periods. Summer means stone fruit and lazy evenings on the verandah. Winter by contrast, slow cooked meals and reading by the fire. Comfort. Seasonal changes these days though, seem to trigger more feelings of angst than security.  We were talking over breakfast this morning, planning ahead for another garden tour booking in Spring, and noting rather oddly that we hope Spring arrives. We haven’t been on spring’s itinerary for four or five years now.  Rather than a gradual blooming, we launch into a quick flourish of blossom, 5 minute flush of transient green and BOOM, straight into summer. Today as temperatures barely hit double figures, the paddocks are swept with dust, oddly, as showers of rain are also falling. How easy it is to wish time away, waiting for things to “get back to normal", to feel comfortable again, all the while wondering if this is it?
  • Hooray, my newsletter and mailing list are finally up and running! You are warmly invited to sign up for stories, tips, and lovely things from the garden and studio.. A monthly letter will pop straight into your inbox, just long enough to read settled under a tree somewhere, with a cuppa in hand. You will also be the first to hear about works for sale, events and exhibitions, and there are some exciting new things planned for 2020! I promise I won't bombard you, just a bit of sharing, making, gardening.....and pause. Please come along, you are most welcome. Sign up via the link in my profile @thegardencurator xo
  • I just had to share...at the 11th hour the last piece shown in Into the Wilder @cornerstoregallery sold, it's a sellout!! So thrilled, not a bad way to end a first solo show. Thankyou thankyou thankyou, truly grateful and overwhelmed 🙏🙏🙏 Now to open the bubbly....😊
  • It's a wrap! Doors have closed on my first solo show "Into the Wilder" @cornerstoregallery. I'm beyond thrilled, a wonderful couple of weeks, thankyou thankyou to everyone who came, sent friends, chatted, purchased, purchased again, commented...so grateful. Sooo close to a sellout, with 17 of 18 pieces sold, two thirds within a couple of hours of sales opening. Wow, thankyou!! Big thankyou to Madi @cornerstoregallery, such a gorgeous gallery we are lucky to have, to the completely brilliant Mal and Jen @framingmarvellous, Dave and Jane @thelanecellars and Bec and Stefan @cured for delicious opening treats, @southernwildco for the sublime candles burning, @billsbeans_eastorange for excellent coffee, and to Georgina @theplanthunter, such a huge thrill to be featured, you're the best of the best. I love what I do, and I am overwhelmed by the way it has connected with you. There is so much beauty on this incredible planet...we just need to be still for a moment, and choose to see it. Until next time, stay tuned. Plenty of new adventures in the planning!
  • Into the Wilder, Sunday 10 til 2, then it's a wrap and these little wild things will be off on new adventures! Image @madi_young @cornerstoregallery
  • Last day today @cornerstoregallery. Into the Wilder closes at 2pm, then I'll be gathering the remnants and heading back to the studio, minus my artworks that will be flying off all over the place! It's a strange feeling farewelling works that have taken months to complete. They have been sitting quietly with me in the studio, the collection gradually growing. I become quite attached, so it completes the cycle perfectly to know the people who take them in. Thankyou all, you know who you are! xox So, pop by if you can, here 'til 2😊