Balance. Hooked Rug by Ann Willey"The Secret Garden was what many called it ...... she liked the name and she liked still more the feeling that when its beautiful old walls shut her in, no one knew where she was. It seemed almost like being shut out of the world in some fairy place." - Frances Hodgson Burnett
In the Garden. Hooked rug by Ann WilleyI'm enchanted by Ann Willey's work. Her hooked rugs remind me of the beautifully illustrated story books I was fascinated with as a child. See more of Ann's work on her website, here and on Flickr, here.
In the night garden. Hooked rug by Ann Willey"Dreams, fairytales, myth, and everyday life overlap and intermingle in my mixed media paintings and rug hookings. I am fascintated by the concept of magical realism, and there is a psychological current that runs through my work, which can hint at multiple layers of meaning." - Ann Willey
Red Shoes in the garden by Amy Huddleston . Website here.
"When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt presences." - May Sarton
Spring Garden by Elaine Pamphilon at the Medici Gallery, here.
Metamorphose-attendre by Jung-Yeon Min. See more here. 
Gate by Margaret Ryall. Website here and blog here.
"It is good to be alone in a garden at dawn or dark so that all its shy presences may haunt you and possess you in a reverie of suspended thought." - James Douglas
A reverie of suspended thought ..... I like that.
Forest Walk. Mixed media by Chuck Gumpert. Website, here.
Sacred Stone Garden Art by Deborah Bridges. Website here.
Enchanting is the word for all of these images Robyn! They transport me to a magical place...
ReplyDeletethat was a feast for the eyes .....Lorna
ReplyDeleteI would like to be in Mary Ann Wakeley's garden, very much. The intention for my garden is to make it a place to be quiet in.
ReplyDeleteWonderful rugs and images,
ReplyDeleteBack from Victoria and the textile workshops and now in Queensland, hoping to have a holiday, but knowing the friend w stay with that may not happen.
As always I look for your posts.
I love art outside. I have placed some faces in my own little woods - hanging from trees. And a few clam shell rattles wrapped with cedar bark.
ReplyDeleteAs always a fabulous post.
what a wonderful change! we all need a secret garden at some time. you have given us many. thank you, lyle
ReplyDeletewhere on earth do you find the time to hunt up all this gorgeous stuff? I'm SO glad you do, though....
ReplyDeleteMy favourite topic! I loved the range of work you chose. Thanks for choosing my work as part of your sequence. I wanted to let you know that the title is Gate rather than Ephemeral (which is the magnolia piece). My lovely web guy had two titles switched. I thought it was corrected! A little more work to do.
ReplyDeleteoh, ooooooo, will have to visit the sacred stone garden. love the theme of this post, and excited to see ann willey, from michigan, .. i have one of her little rugs! and there you are across the world showing some of her work!!
ReplyDeleteRoby, I am now alerted by google reader when your new posts are so I can keep up. Always love your posts.
ReplyDeletelots of love from susan in australia
Thank you so very much!
ReplyDeleteRobyn you have done it again. What a wonderful post. I loved much of the work and especially resonate to the garden sculptures.
ReplyDeleteSuch charming eye candy ... Thanks for sharing! I especially like "Spring Garden".
ReplyDeleteWow! Something wonderful in the work of each of these artists. I was told that there is magic at the bottom of the garden when I was tiny and I obviously still believe it's true!
ReplyDeleteWhat a pleasure to walk through this garden of delights! Must returen to llok up websites next time - thank you!
ReplyDeleteAnn Willey's work is absolutely edible Robyn. I love rag rugs and even have some lovely hessian upstairs for when I make my own..haha. In the night garden is fabulous use of colour and texture...I could go on forever. Love Elaine P for her wonderfully naive quality too. Great links - will have a coffee and follow some of them.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! Love the feeling of "fairytale" in all these pieces.
ReplyDeletei wish i hadnt just bought two hooked rugs or i'd buy one of these. just charming.
ReplyDeleteabsolutely enchanted post Robyn, gorgeous textures and colors and of course the story of the secret garden is an all time fav! thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI love them all (and need to rush back and check the links).
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love the last photo of the Sacred Stone Garden.
Jacky xox
Karin, I love the internet! How else would I have found these amazing artists.
ReplyDeleteLorna, exactly!
Emma, Mary Ann has painted a series of beautiful garden abstracts. My favourite Wakeleys.
Penny, I'm looking forward to hearing more about the workshops.
Leslie, clam shell rattles ? They sound delightful.
Lyle, thanks so much. I agree, we all need that little hideaway to gather our thoughts.
India, if I can't sleep you can guarantee I'm hunting, gathering artists and blogging.
Margaret, before I even started gathering for this post your gate piece and Mary Ann's garden abstracts immediately came to mind. Some artworks just sit in my subconscious waiting for the right opportunity.
Neva, I was so delighted you sent me the photos!
Susan, you're a star. I have a feeling you will continue this theme in a collage. See you soon over at your blog.
Shayna, thank YOU.
Katherine, glad you enjoyed the post.
Laura, Elaine Pamphilon's style is very refreshing isn't it. Simple but charming.
Annie, did you make fairy gardens when you were little? I loved making fairy gardens!
Sophie, so glad you enjoyed the walk.
Cathy, I hope you do make a rug soon. I'm very taken with them. Have you looked at Tara Ross' rag rugs? Ann's work has such a purity about them..... and yet there is an undercurrent which reminds me of those childrens fables I loved having read to me at bedtime when I was a child.
Shayla, Ann Willey's pieces set the mood.
Robyn, just to say thank you for the comment you left at my blog when Kendalee guest posted.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the forest walk and metamorphose-attendre were an absolute delight to the look at, deeply.
Thank you for sharing.
Hoping that the SA autumn is warmer than a rather chilly Irish spring. I miss home... terribly.
Garden art is a favorite of mine..love embellishing my garden with stone art and rusty relics!
ReplyDeleteChuck Gumpert's work is amazing.. the color palettes and the blending...not being a painter I am in awe of pieces like his...
Jung-Yeon's pieces are gorgeous..would have to liked to read more about her technique...looks like illustration, airbrush and paint combo...
other news...our bullie breeders gal is in the family way...
Sukipoet, you might want another later :-)
ReplyDeleteJacky, its a very peaceful photo isn't it?
Cat, glad you enjoyed the post.
My maternal grandmother hooked rugs. She collected old wool fabrics or clothing, tore it into strips and rolled them into balls. Most of her rugs were of flowers. I had one for years but the moths finally got it.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite book when I was 12 was the Secret Garden. The magic of the garden and the mystery inside the old house were strong draws on my imagination.
Love this post!!
Oh my...I want to lie under the trees and watch the clouds float by on any one of these hooked rugs...that's a medium I've always been so taken with...painting with yarns.
ReplyDeleteeach of these individual images is a doorway and I will walk through every one of them...and what a grand adventure that will be for the start of the new walk 'round the wheel of the natural year'.
Thanks, Robyn, for all your 'surfing' and the treasures that you bring back and share.
This has been wonderful...I have visited the different sites and have seen even more magic. Thank you Robin, this has been especially special!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful pot pourri of art, Robyn! And I loved your previous rusty post too! Thank you - you always bring us such delights!
ReplyDeleteRobyn, ♥♥♥!
ReplyDeleteThese are all beautiful. They bring back memories of my walks in the woods as a girl wishing I had a secret garden.
ReplyDeleteLove so much the egg trees and the red shoes.
Thanks for sharing these Robyn.
Thank you so much for always taking the time to post these links! You always manage to find some of the most fabulous art. I really enjoy seeing your own art, too. It's gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteso beautiful :)
ReplyDeleteLove Forest Walk! Very ethereal and clever. Just catching up on your previous post too! Ahhh...rusty things...the essence of corosion. Thank you so much for stopping on by my blog, Robyn. I really appreciate your comments. I am happy to find that there are like-minded bloggers out there who agree with me about keeping blogger ad free. Heartening stuff...a bit like your blog, really...
ReplyDeleteLoves to you!
Debs
Wow, so many breathtaking images, thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteSecret garden was my favourite book as a child - I identified with the
ReplyDeleteemotional isolation and the defrosting of the boy's heart.
And a big fan of Emily Pamphilon - but tyhe garden abstract
well that took my breath away.
Always a sucker for grids
The Secret Garden was always one of my favourites as a child too and in fact I recently re-read it and discovered a whole new layer of meaning in it! (I wrote about it here.) May Sarton is an old favourite too and I am a big fan of magic realism too so you really hit my spot with this post Robyn : )
ReplyDeleteI really love your choices! I too loved the Secret Garden and I have always responded to magic realism. There is something wonderful about being in a garden and being perfectly still to listen to the life living there and maybe memories of past people as well.Thank you for sharing these artists work!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post...I am going to go back and spend more time.....just lovely!
ReplyDeleteJeanne :)
Claire, we've had some really hot days but I think Autumn is finally arriving with blissful days in the outdoors.
ReplyDeleteLisa, yay! A Bullie in progress.
Marilyn, enjoy!
Stevie, I'm so tempted to try a hooked rug. It must be quite a soothing practice.
Donna, I thought you would enjoy these rugs.
Mary Ann, glad you enjoyed.
Caroline, it was a joy to put together.
Black and White :-)
Leanne, secret gardens...fairy gardens .... thrilling!
Thanks Angela.
Laura, thank you :-)
Debrina, one could get lost in Forest Walk.
Lawendula, enjoy!
Grrl, Garden Abstract is amazing isn't it?
WildCherry, guess what I've been listening to? Thanks for the link.
Lrc, last evening I sat quietly on the garden bench doing just that. The lawn had just been mown and the scent of grass cuttings was delicious.
Jeane :-)
Thank you for sharing these special treasures...I will be back when it is not so late...you bless me with these artists and their personal spiritual journeys. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart
ReplyDeleteThanks to you once again, Robyn, for introducing these inspirational artists. Jung-Yeon Min's work takes my breath away! They are all fantastic; I don't know how you find them, but I'm grateful that you do!
ReplyDeleteloved that book!
ReplyDeleteIt would be great to read again NOW
r u still Exploring and expanding You!
xo
Lovely post, Robyn. I am having a deja vu of being a lonely high school girl reading Jane Eyre on a rainy night; feeling overly romantic and lost in my book, I went outside in my long nightgown and wandered in the garden, getting wet and my feet muddy, surrounded by the cocktail of scents from the moist flowers and grass. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm just getting around to commenting on this post - I LOVE the hooked rugs and actually the whole post reminded me much of my mom - perhaps it was just the quote (her favorite book was The Secret Garden) - but thank you!
ReplyDelete