Getting inspiration - Kew Gardens

I find it very useful to go to different places to get different kinds of inspiration.  There are of course the art galleries and exhibitions.  There is a surprising amount of inspiration to be garnered from simply wandering the streets of London (and at some point I will do a street art walk blog, but not today).

Fine old buildings like Westminster Abbey and new monoliths like the walky-talky all add to this.  I always find Regents canal inspiring, and for some reason particularly the bit where it is crossed by Kingsland road. 

Then there are the surprising bits of London like the Lee Valley and Walthamstow and Hackney Marshes. 

Every so often though an event location is a very useful kick-start to one’s creative juices.  In such a vein did I find the excellent Kew Gardens.  I have been on a flower kick for a while now so it was bound to fall right into my wheelhouse. 

There are of course many and various beautiful flowers, very pleasingly arranged by the obviously supremely talented staff there.

There is an extremely calming an evocative Japanese garden.  A distinctly meditative experience and the sweeping raked stones is something I may well come back to.   (Rocks have a mythical significance in Japan).

There is a fine Henry Moore sculpture resting in the grounds.  Avenues of trees and strange arches of foliage can been encountered.  The kind of thing that makes you think if you went through it, 1000 years would have passed by the time you came out the other side.

Pretty spring blossom in abundance of course and fields of spring flowers. There are also a couple of pits of modern sculpture which are not only good pieces in themselves but have been perfectly captured in their environment.  A particular favourite was a sculpture of small tower block like structures en-caged in a circle of rose bushes.  It is interesting to imagine what this must be like in full summer.

Much of the finest specimens can be found in the elegant greenhouses.  Being a fool I did not of course take a picture of the greenhouses themselves but I highly recommend you go and see for yourself.  Strange black plants and a plant which has only recently been persuaded to fruit. Carnivorous plants which look very much like extras from Aliens and attractive pools of water (complete with Fish).

Came away with lots of ideas and images to play with.  More in fact than I will ever really have time to do justice.  This is the advantage of such experiences.  You can set down a store of ideas and inspiration which can then be accessed again in the future.
 
The following week I went to Chelsea Physic garden which is also great but a smaller, posher version (we past a cluster of ladies talking about their recent encounter with Lady Sarah Chatto and how she wore no makeup - the shame of it). I took no photos unfortunately but it is well worth a visit.  They have arranged the garden into scent zones, which is a great idea.  It means you can stand there and let the different scents waft past you.  Walking along an arresting scent causes you to suddenly pause. Scent in art.  An underused idea.