It's our garden anniversary

​14 years ago today we began to inhabit this land.. I remember when we first saw our garden and we could not believe that we could own such a space. We have pinched ourselves everyday as we look out of our kitchen window. I know I am a lucky man and I cannot think of a more beautiful place to live on this earth. Over the years I have covered almost every inch on foot or tractor and admired its beauty. I realised a long time ago that I am simply the temporary custodian and that this thing of beauty will be owned by someone else in the not too distant future. So I have toiled to keep this verdant place in check, not just for me and my family, but for the people who will also look after and enjoy this landscape in the future. But there is also a price to pay for the privilege of dwelling in this place and the garden has a wonderful ability to cause pain (back, knees, cuts and lacerations, stings, burns and more). But that it is a small price to pay for the feelings of wellbeing it provides, the moods and thoughts it inspires, and the endless opportunity to admire and celebrate its beauty in the artefacts I make. Sadly, I cannot find any photos from when we first moved in. Perhaps we were too busy to take them. So I will have to make do with two images I processed using 'dreamscope'.

So in honour of my garden I dedicate my attempt to capture it in a painting and two photographic images that I processed using 'dreamscope'. The first is in the style of Monet's water lilies the second in the style of a Hockney woodland painting. Seeing the garden through their eyes of these artists gives me  a different perspective.