Saturday, July 9, 2011

In a Way to Garden


How we do what we do in the particular informs how we do what we do in the overall.
Gardening is not only an expression of energy, but an approach, a delineation of temperament, judgement and attitude.
Gardens today encompass definitions they once never had, and perhaps there are others we no longer apply.
I'm not saying these images represent gardens as they are known, but they may be gardens seen from another angle.












13 comments:

  1. Faisal, these are intriguing and evocative "gardens." The compositions challenge the usual definitions of gardens. Cleansing to contemplate.

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  2. Thankyou, James...I value your viewpoint highly. I hadn't thought of them as cleansing, but certainly, the process of making them is a switch from the bigger picture of the garden proper, and so may be a release for me.
    I've briefly reflected that what we call 'gardens' now is entirely different to what the Victorians might have called them, let alone a further thousand years back. And tribal societies, did they have any sense of 'garden' at all, or was the whole world a garden?
    Winter, of course, makes me particularly inclined to be inward-looking...whatever the time of year, I enjoy miniatures.

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  3. Hello Faisal:
    What interesting questions you pose here and, of course, the greatest challenge of defining a garden.

    For our own part, we could certainly agree that all of the images you show here represent gardening in some form or sense. They capture the imagination, they combine texture, colour and form, they contain growing things and are aesthetically pleasing. Miniature, gardened works of art.

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  4. Hello Jane and Lance,
    It's nice of you to comment with such consideration. Thankyou.
    Gardens can be window-boxes, or a patch in the ground in the midle of nowhere, or what's growing in your heart, as well as an estate or a backyard. I am partial to Japanese gardens, the concepts behind which are utterly unlike others. And I'm very fond of miniatures in one form or another.

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  5. I've seen far less artistic conglomerations called "gardens." I'd be happy to apply to label to your works. They certainly involved many of the processes that go into many garden spaces: selection, arrangement, consideration of vantage point, layering, variation...

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  6. Thankyou, James, for the technical support!

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  7. I have long believed all good ideas can be unsized or downsized..the work of Capability Brown is a prime example! What would syburbia done without him! Good stuff..

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  8. Thanks, Billy. Alot depends on circumstances/options.

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  9. Amazing works about gardening! Whenever I come to your page, I feel as if I'm coming into a real garden!

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  10. This garden opens its gates to such a charming visitor. Thankyou, Sihirli.

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  11. This post really talks to me. It shows that gardens can be creative and imaginative, no matter what the conditions. I feel a post coming on ...

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  12. these are beautiful; i've only just come across the post through the Linkwithin button.
    sculptural; living; considered; merging garden and art. Creative. Thank you. Jan

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