Something magic happens when people who truly believe in what they're making find each other. A deep recognition in creative essence which in turn, amplifies professional and personal impact.
My pal John; the heart behind Hugo & Green, the legend who hangs my big atmospheric Soulscapes on his Brighton walls and makes crystal terrariums with me in a ritual we've come to call Heart & Soil asked me to paint live at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show as part of his Heliotropic Carousel houseplant studio. I said yes before the reasonable part of my brain had even finished comprehending how I might navigate the complexity of making that happen.
Was I mad to say yes? Probably.
Am I glad I did it? Absolutely! So wholeheartedly grateful
Would I paint live again? haha, probably not.
The design concept was Heliotropic; turning towards the light. The conscious and deliberate act of moving yourself toward joy, the way a plant seems to grow towards light so effortlessly. John builds spaces that do precisely this in all of his work, in some form or another and his design philosophy for the Carousel was unapologetic and exquisitely alive.
My tiny joy practice (finding the luminous in the ordinary and learning to notice the light in small things) lives in the same territory as his design intention which felt very aligned.
So I said yes. And then I had the wobble...as you do.
Because painting for me is kinda private, I move through so much mess (spatially, physically and emotionally) to get to the final outcome. Social media has me showing the highlights like a confident brush stroke or the moment it clicks, but Chelsea asked me to show e.v.e.r.y.thing.
I painted inside the carousel summerhouse which stood proud like a yellow-orange beacon of Solar Plexus joy. Glass-walled, sun-drenched (and rain...and dust...and tree pollen), entirely unashamedly visible. Folk pressed their faces up against the glass to watch and I briefly became, in the kindest and most disorienting way, a creature in an exhibit. A small creative butterfly pinned to the light. I enjoyed the fact that on initial inspection, folk didn't notice me painting because there was so much to take in with the rotating plant displays, show stopping plant specimens, crystals catching the light and did you see the bright pink carousel horse??! As people walked around the 360 studio, I heard folk telling their pals "ooh, there's someone painting in there" so then I had an audience. Yikes! Some would stop to talk to me and ask many questions about John's creation, about how to care for their plants and about my art.
Some of them wanted to see flowers on my canvas and I understood that. Chelsea is a cathedral of the botanical, a place where people come to be moved by the extraordinary precision of petals and the theatrical ambition of garden design. An atmospheric Soulscape however...usually moody, layered and stirring asked something different of them and some people walked past with a polite bafflement that I found interesting to reflect on. But others stopped and stayed and became curious. Those were the conversations I will carry for a long time. The more they understood John's vision, the more they asked about the work, the more their eyes changed. Something shifted behind them with a brightness that crosses a face when a piece of art speaks directly to something a person didn't know they needed to hear.
That is why we make things, right? That exact moment of connection and recognition.
Chelsea is extraordinary and it is also political, I mean any gathering of thousands of creatives inevitably becomes political to a degree, doesn't it? An invisible architecture of who belongs where and why hums underneath the rosé and the prize cards, interesting to observe and very easy to get lost in if you let yourself. But walk through the show as a maker and something deeply feeling opens up that I noticed didn't get translated into the tv coverage. Thousands of people, most of them not thinking consciously that they've come to be in the presence of art and nature and yet that is precisely what they've done. They've dressed up and taken the train and queued and paid and come to stand in the presence of something beautiful. A celebration of art, creativity, awe, inspiration and potential connecting all of these humans.
I know some folk were commenting on the way Chelsea seemed to be losing its touch, how the world of celebrities and influencers dilutes the focus of creation and nature. How it feels inaccessible to many who wish to experience. How its relevance may be questioned as gardens become smaller and our purse strings become tighter. But isn't that the beauty of learning how to make the most out of what you do have? Showcasing houseplants, how to style them, care for them and get the most out of your space. The opportunity to speak with experts in these spaces. Showcasing balcony spaces, re-using and recycling materials, encouraging mindfulness, supporting a plethora of health issues, raising awareness, inviting influencers to absorb and digest and then who will actively spend their time teaching others how to grow food on their windowsill, style their plants and so on.
We are always finding our way back to nature, to the things people make and grow, the thing that took someone's entire attention to design and source and collaborate and bring into fruition. We're curious folk, after all.
Hugo & Green won a Gold Medal. John won a Gold Medal. The little Heliotropic world built in the belief that choosing joy is a radical and worthy act was recognised at the highest level. I'm so stinking proud of my pal and was sure to remind him of that at every stage of this journey. Then BBC 2 put a camera on it (hours of filming for 40 seconds of airtime btw) and I watched John receive something he has worked and dreamed and cared deeply about. Ah, all the feels and warmth for witnessing someone you love step into a moment they deserve. A gold medal award winning designer.
This is what collaboration does, when it's real. It doesn't flatten the individuals into something generic and palatable. It takes two or more distinct creative voices and finds the resonance between them, the frequency where both are more fully themselves, not less. John's Heliotropic vision gave my Soulscapes a home that understood them. My Soulscapes gave his carousel something living and atmospheric and a little untamed. There were actually many artists painting live at Chelsea this year, I had a moment on press day when another designer came along and told me she thought she was the only one with the idea of having artists paint live as part of her creation. In then end, I told her; It's all art. How beautiful that so many artists have come together to celebrate creativity and nature. I GET that there are politics and competitiveness but essentially there is no competition when we are all contributing to the wholeness of creative magic.
Turn toward joy. The plants know and we're just remembering again and again.
Wild love, Em.
Image credit: RHS
