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Us: Good idea. Sorry Denise. No, sorry Andy, you speak. No, you go ahead Denise.
Savill: (Gentle sigh). Shall we take a 10-minute break?...
This is a COVID thing, it will pass, and we’ll laugh about it one day. Oh, hold on. We already have...
Now onto the design bit...
As there is a natural route taken by visitors, our trail map round the Garden is always very similar. Armed with her images of selected sculptures the Designer walks the route both with the Head Gardener and on her own.
The Head Gardener will inevitably have imagined the location of most pieces around her beloved garden and is well placed to advise and explain how they will look in the Autumn.
On our part, the Designer knows about the various media and finishes of the selected pieces, she can envisage the piece against various backdrops and in different lights. She is herself an artist and knows how to display work. We do not clump pieces together by type - there isn’t a Cat Walk or an Abstract Alley. Rather we look for where each individual piece looks it’s best.
The Savill Garden is such a gift in this regard. It is a series of small interconnecting gardens. Thus we can arrange our work in each area as we would do in our own gardens. We hope that the viewer can picture the piece on their lawn, by their pond, by their flower bed. The resulting trail was really beautiful and much praised.
We then thought about whether we wanted to continue into the following year and we both said, “I will if you will.” The second year was so much easier - we had formed firm relationships with Savill staff who were there to help and support us; we had really good systems in place, and we knew and loved every nook of the Garden.
Company of Columbidae by Abby Martin
Fishies by Alison Catchlove