In and Out the Garden
I live in the wildest of landscapes. Our garden, which we have created from an acre patch of rough hill pasture, only blossoms because it is separated from the wilderness by the thinnest veil of mesh fencing, keeping out the deer, sheep and rabbits who eat the rest of the hillsides until they are bald.
We are now many years on from planting hundreds of trees and the air is filled with birds all year round. Most mornings, my first step outside the door is to feed these birds. Then I go up the back to the washing line and as I hang each garment, I get glimpses of the various mountains – Suilven, Cul Mor, Canisp, Ben More Assynt – through the reaching branches of all the young trees.
After breakfast, Brian goes up to the vegetable garden to do whatever seasonal jobs are on the go and I walk down the drive to my studio. For most of the year, we spend almost all of our time out of the house, taking tea breaks out of the way of the wind, on whichever bench is getting the sun, making end-of-the-day bonfires, watching the small happenings in our surprisingly lush garden.
This gallery of selected images reflects an on-going process of observation of this humble domestic environment, which is loved by me, Brian and all the small creatures who have made their home here.
Please click on an image to see the full picture.
Textile Wildflower Meadow (detail)
As part of the 2009 Ullapool Community Textile Exhibition (organised by the Macphail Centre), I produced an installation that was part wild meadow, part mowed lawn. I made a number of wild flowers out of fabric, paper, wire, ribbons and small haberdashery. Amongst the flowers portrayed were flag iris, marsh orchid, oxeye daisy and field scabious. I was pleased that, when placed within a real meadow, they looked most at home!
Flying Visitors
These little figures were made from grass, paper and feathers and appeared perched on a fence which was part of an installation representing the boundary of my garden.
