THE STORY | An Artist's Garden
As the seed catalogues hit our doormats and we cosy up by the fire, dreaming of spring, let Georgie Richardson’s collection of Flower Portraits stir the imagination and remind us of the seasons to come. Of names momentarily forgotten in the depths of winter; hellebore, hyacinth, poppy, primula, foxglove and chard.
A graduate of Fine Art Painting at Winchester School Of Art, Georgie Richardson doesn't have to go far to find inspiration. In her garden that surrounds her home and studio in the foothills of the Black Mountains in Herefordshire, the artist nurtures a careful balance between wildness and cultivation.
Celebrating the self-seeders that make a home in her garden, means that all manner of surprising compositions occur; a foxglove may settle beside the calendula, and a knapweed pops up under a rose. It is these relationships that Georgie explores within her work.
There is a theatricality to this collection. As though each one is a stage set, with their Bloomsbury-style swags, borders and dark backdrops. Like a player in a play, each specimen is waiting to have its turn in the spotlight, as the seasons change and the sun moves around to shine on that specific plant.
At this special time of year, when we are full of anticipation for all the seasons to come, Georgie has captured this delight. The energy bursting forth from the bare earth into these fireworks of floral displays is palpable.
The artist refers to her work as Flower Portraits and, through them and documenting the changing seasons, she hopes to ‘provide an anchor and comfort from which to navigate this transient life’.