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 paddocks 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!"

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Colleen Southwell
  • In the rose garden this morning, dawdling on the way to the studio, reluctant to go inside after an early morning walk down the lane with Charlie and the dogs. Feeling very lucky that isolation for us is a very different experience than for others. 🙏
  • These little radishes will appear in the next group show at the wonderful Corner Store Gallery, opening online, this Thursday at 8pm. Though doors won't be physically open, online sales will, and the excellent photography of @madi_young means you will see clearly both my work and the other fabulous local artists exhibiting! Take a peek @cornerstoregallery #buyfromthebush
  • In lieu of sharing the garden with human friends this weekend, we shared it with Olive and Pearl instead. We can though welcome you in a virtual world. If I could stroll through the garden with you in person I would, but here is a collection of snaps from today that will have to do. Cheers from us and warm wishes for the week ahead. Take care ❤
  • Imagine, wouldn't it be lovely to have wings? Paper wings will have to do. @sukihugh_gallery
  • The perfect stay at home and pantry stocking project is growing veges. Fresh organic produce, no supermarket queues, and the 1.5 metre distancing rule doesn't apply to hanging out with four legged friends. Hugo (golden retriever) loves picking peas, ever so gently between bared front teeth. Lollipop (whippet) prefers dried broad beans and crunches them loudly with terrible table manners, at odds with her delicate stature. She sits in waiting for unearthed curl grubs which she shakes violently before munching, as though trying to immobilise a creature much less inert. I let the patch go during our hot dry summer, but it's been brought back to life with newly planted lettuce, Asian greens, leeks, silverbeet, beetroot and brassicas added to existing beans, tomatoes and zucchini. The basil has burst into action, soon to become dozens of little bundles of pesto destined for the freezer. A job for this evening. The Pittosporum hedge had a shave this week too, fresh, crisp and clean cut. It's a great little microclimate inside, offering protection from the wind that pummels our hilltop garden. We planted it as tiny tubestock, less than 10cm tall in little 5cm pots. An exercise in patience, look at it now, 9 years on! We lost a couple in the drought, so it has a bit of a gappy smile on one side, I'm hoping it'll fill in with time. More patience. If a large patch isn't possible, even a pot or two can be planted up with edibles, kept by the back door for handy picking. Silverbeet and kale are handy for cut and come again snippings to steam or throw in the soup pot. And not so palatable to dogs. Worth a try!🌱
  • The Shadow of Wings exhibition @sukihugh_gallery may have closed it's physical doors, but we're not done yet! Works can still be purchased via the online catalogue, and numerous additional photos of each piece are available upon request. The little insect specimens remain adorning the walls of this gorgeous gallery, testiment that though times are tough, we're hanging in there! So many pieces found new homes last weekend despite the "opening you have when you're not having an opening". A huge thankyou to all who have invested in my work for the first time, or have returned for fourth and fifth additions to their collections. So, onwards we go, the exhibition continues though in a different form, and works are still available to purchase via the catalogue. Susan from Suki and Hugh, and I at my end, are happy to answer questions, send photos and bring the show to you via the gallery in the sky. Lucky we have wings! Stay well all, stay home, and stay in touch😊
  • When the world turns upside down, we seek a little of the normal in the familiar landscape that surrounds us. Morning walks with the boys and dogs, before our online school and studio days begin, will be our way to clear minds. I'm feeling lucky in so many ways - to have the garden, to live rurally, to already be a home-based business, to have big boys able to navigate their way through remote schooling, and to have this online community of friends. I can't help but think that this process is a global pressing of a reset button, forced rethinking of what is important, living with consideration, redefining needs from wants. We still have no toilet paper - evidently it's been been smuggled elsewhere - so I am also feeling thankful for the pile of The Land newspapers stuffed behind the man of the house's chair. Usually I lament them, now I am thankful for his forward thinking. Won't be long and they'll be tied with string in little square bundles beside the loo, reminiscent of forgotten shearers quarters. Take care all. We will make it to the other side!