Art in the Garden, Colleen Southwell

The creativity and generosity of artist Colleen Southwell so wowed Sandra and her group on a recent tour of NSW gardens they didn’t want to leave.

Photo- Madeline Young

I hadn't been to Colleen Southwell’s garden on the outskirts of Orange, so I didn’t know what to expect as we drove in with a coach of Ross Garden travellers on our NSW Spring Festival tour, but it turned out to be a highlight of the tour. Her father and one of her two teenage sons were there to meet us at the gate, and led us down the drive through paddocks full of fluffy baby lambs with their mums. Oh my gosh it was idyllic!

The garden in front of the house is quite formal, very understated, with buxus balls, hedges, clumps of blue iris and gravel, but then around the back, the garden opens to the view of beautiful green hills, with green lawns and gorgeous crabapples in flower.

Photo- Samantha Mackie

You could see that here was the garden of an artist, and a deeply thoughtful person. Colleen is a trained horticulturist and worked as a landscape designer, but is now wrapping that work up as her art practice becomes full time. She makes the most intricate and beautiful paper sculptures that are all about paying close attention to the natural world. We were able to look closely at the works she had prepared for an exhibition, which was a treat.

Photo- Madeline Young

The verandah looking over the garden was all done up for our afternoon tea, with cute little teapots and macarons, fruit cake and dear little lemon tarts. It was all so pretty, and then the two donkeys, Olive and Pearl, one tan and one beige, came up to the gate to greet us.It was so picture perfect, we all wanted to sit there all day.

Photo- Kristy Noble

Photo- Kristy Noble