YOUR GARDEN: AN ART FORM

Works of art thoughtfully placed in the outdoors add interest and intrigue, enhancing the experience of enjoying nature and allowing for interaction with the elements and the changing light. Children, in particular, delight in coming across a water feature or sculpture concealed amongst the greenery.

In a home garden, art can act as a focal point and sometimes a key piece or pieces serve as inspiration around which a landscape plan is created, or more often a new garden is designed with a few special spots where a sculpture or feature pot can be placed.

Front entrances are ideal for placing something special to provide a welcoming point of interest for everyone to enjoy, or a sculpture tucked away at the end of the lawn to draw your eye deep into the garden. Also, consider vistas from inside the house; that window at the end of the hallway, the view out from the French doors, or the kitchen window you’re always gazing out – perfect placement for a favourite sculptural piece of art.

Finding the perfect piece is not always easy. If you’re in no hurry and keep your eyes peeled, eventually the right thing will come along. Alternatively, if you find an artist whose work you love, many will happily create a custom piece for your space.

Canterbury plays host to regular exhibitions such as the South Island’s largest event Sculpture on the Peninsula, coming up in November this year, and the annual North Canterbury event, Art in a Garden, which opens in October.

Locals and visitors can also enjoy an art- filled wander through several permanent outdoor exhibits in the area including the Tai Tapu Sculpture Garden where Llew Summers, a notable local sculptor who recently passed away, proudly display one of his large concrete works, ‘Follow Me’. Or, at Iron Ridge Quarry, tucked away in the hills of the Waipara Valley, visitors are treated to the works of Raymond Herber, a collection crowned by the crowd favourite, ‘Gentle Giant’.

We are lucky in Christchurch to have many places to go and enjoy art and nature combined. Get out and about, it’s a lovely way to gather inspiration to help bring the magic of art much closer to home.