As winter approaches the special garden, Turn End, Haddenham, Bucks undresses and the structures of the landscape, man-made and natural are revealed. Strong old walls, mature trees, sculptural pots and wooden supports to name a few. These images are the spine of the book, the support. Over the year the ever-changing plant structures of birth, life and death dress these permanent structures producing a network of individual patterns. These images are shown printed on Japanese Tosa Shoji as light, ephemeral attachments on the edge of pages. Version two has digital art as a medium as before printed on Curious Particles Moonlight; but is traditionally bound.
This book is a visual response to a year’s contact with a special garden, Turn End, Haddenham, Bucks.
View the three images of this work that are available here.
A book based on Peter Aldington’s (the architect of Turn End) philosophy of uniting the inside and outside spaces. The photographs of some window reflections in this book are taken from inside the house and others from outside. Text mounted on pressure printed images with stencils of the house’s outline printed on top. Text is letterpress printed by the artist. Book cloth bound covers.
This one-of-a-kind book continues my interest in the medicinal properties of plants. Old myths and new developments. The recycled two- tier box became the ideal container. The lid decorated with a textured panel. The bottom tier contains a traditional herbarium. Folders for each plant, all plants from Turn End Garden collected, dried, mounted and documented. The top tier contains folios of all the plants in the bottom tier but they are printed from real leaves, pages textured and inked. Hand drawn flowers and poem written by the artist.
I am experimenting with natural dye inks. The Turn End Garden has many plants and trees that can produce ink at any time of the year. All living colours that may change over time but can be made semi -permanent or be made to change colour with additives. Magic!
Books that you may carry to the fire, and hold readily in one hand, are the most useful after all.
Samuel Johnson