GARDEN ILLUSTRATION

I’ve long held a fascination with illustrated aerial views….of anything ‘laid out’ – be it the floor plan of a building, the layout of a city or, my favourite of all, the plan of a garden. It matters not whether it be of a grand country estate or a humble kitchen garden, though some of the best may be of the likes of Versailles, with intricate parterre gardens leading out to vineyards, forests and the landscape beyond. I love to trace their paths on the page, and liken them to a marvellous maze or labyrinth.

Anyway….I had long held a desire for Glenmore to be illustrated in this fashion. There was never a plan drawn here – Larry and I made the garden ‘design’ (such as it is), by laying out lengths of hose, rope and string: we made the garden ‘by eye’. And so, to celebrate a very special occasion some years ago, we engaged Catherine O’Neill to ‘map’ Glenmore for the very first time, and to create a watercolour illustration. (She duly arrived with a collection of tape measures, sturdy boots and a well worn hat – this is not a task for the faint-hearted!).

At the time, I suggested to Catherine that it would be fascinating to record the progress of her work, as I much enjoyed seeing some of her pencil drawings prior to painting, and as a result, for the first time, she had a little video completed of the process of making our illustration. I thought I’d share it with you, as perhaps….down the track, it’s an idea you may also like to take from dream to reality. Such things are time consuming and precise, but the process is thrilling, if, like me, you are fascinated by the illustrated view! To see the video, just click here. I hope it makes you smile!

Catherine and I also tossed around the idea of making postcards from sections of the illustration: The illustrated ‘views of Glenmore House’ are available in the Barn in bundles of 11.