Spent a wonderful few days back at Kingston as a guest tutor on their Art+(Gardens) module for Level 2 students.
Having taken a pseudo-sabbatical from the art world while discovering the magic of plants, I’d somehow managed to forget what deep and profound joy comes upon me when I’m invited to explore for no reason other than pure whim.
There’s something especially about facilitating the burgeoning art practices of young people that brings a particular kind of spark back to my world-weary brain.
As a relatively new module, we had no pre-conceptions of the outcome which can prove, in equal measure, both thrilling and a little terrifying.
As I suspected, the students produced such quaint, tender, hilarious and wacky work that I just had to share it.
I present to you:
🦋 a beautifully illustrated, riso-printed almanac inspired by a local community garden
🌱 a satirical take on a modern-day ground force with a mystical imp and a mischievous CEO at its helm
🌷 and a faux-tanical research log of a “discovered” garden made entirely recycled materials!!!!
Thanks adam for inviting me to participate in such a rewarding escapade and for the reminder that an artist will always remain an artist at heart.
PS thank you to everyone who ever bought me an arty gardening book - I knew they’d come in handy!
PPS young ppl r the future!!!! 🩷 teaching is fun 🩷
Just wrapped up a thoroughly enjoyable research project with Turner Contemporary which offers a guide to increasing or enhancing biodiversity at the stations which form their community rail partnership.
The final report covers the microscopic to the macroscopic, using knowledge of Thanet’s existing biodiversity to contextualise and inform suggested interventions. As a result, the report provides a range of recommendations on a sliding scale of budget and application, bearing in mind the specific constraints and opportunities that railway stations provide.
Ideally, these will provide a solid foundation for commissioned artists/artworks to centre ecology within any future on-site projects.
Thank you John @grassroofco for your frankly incredible generosity, and your invaluable/inventive insights as always.
And thank you @turnercontemporary for commissioning me! Working with the team has been an absolute pleasure from start to finish. Bringing my expertise and interest in ecology to arts institutions is something I feel especially excited about so I LOVE projects like this.
It’s been an utter privilege to explore my local landscape in such depth and to hopefully make a positive contribution to my community (human and non-human alike!).
I wrote a little something for @itsfreezinginla about how community gardens provide a really interesting model for how learning (especially about climate change) could be more effective and inclusive.
Learning in these spaces is not only intergenerational but inter-species too. It's often adaptive, flexible and responsive to the needs of its users in a way that I don’t think many other spaces can claim to be!
But crucially, this piece is also a love letter to @wcgmargate , where I spent a glorious first year in Margate sowing seeds in the sunshine, harvesting veg in the pouring rain, and living out my dream of driving a big white van around Thanet.
Plus I got to hang out with some seriously wonderful humans (and non-humans), many of whom I might not have had the pleasure of meeting otherwise.
PS. a dedication post to the best adopted cat in the world (Marrow) is queued up in my photos so stay tuned!!!
If you'd like to read the whole article, follow the link in my bio 🪲
Have you ever dreamed of nature’s wholeness being so deeply entwined that its singular elements actually become inseparable from one another?
Last night I saw a butterfly emerge from a nettle; its fluffy wings the same glaucous green of a leaf, coated with delicate white hairs. The blue of its wings were just beginning to emerge, a tone so deep it was almost purple. It was both its own being and yet from a species unconnected.
As it aged the outline of its form became more visible, peeling itself away from the host plant like a cut-out. Turquoise replaced its darker tones, and reflections of light began to thread through its delicate skin.
Butterflies symbolise metamorphosis. I pondered on what within me was partaking in this process of rebirth and where the silvery lines of my own sense of self had started to glow.
I considered where these lines became those of the clouds or of the lake, and where my tiny beads of energy dissolved into those of others. Perhaps - I thought - this process of seeing is not so much about defining myself to the point of individuation but seeing where I am in relation.
So, what's next? | Chloë Webster, BALI Chalk Garden Design National Student of the Year 2025
🏆 Garden Design National Student of the Year
🎓 KLC Westdean student
🌱 Pro Landscaper 30 Under 30 “ones to watch”
✨ In this feature:
• What it felt like to accept the Award
• What Chloë is currently working on
• Her future career plans
• Her advice for students considering entering in 2026
👉 Read the full story and get inspired ahead of the 2026 awards: .uk/chloe-webster-student-award-2025/
Celebrating the next generation of landscape talent at the BALI Awards 2025 💚
Huge congratulations to @cerwebster of @klcgardendip West Dean, Garden Design Student of the Year, and @archie.matthews.scapes of @myerscoughcollege , Landscape and Horticulture Student of the Year. Both received their awards on stage from Trustee Chair @nickcoslett at the British Association of Landscape Industries National Landscape Awards 👏
Joined by their lecturers Humaira Ikram and Tracey Howarth, Chloë and Archie were recognised for their attitude, achievement and professionalism. Both colleges also received a £500 award in support of student success.
Could you be next year’s Top Student?
Apply for 2026 for a chance to win £100, plus entry into the National Landscape Awards with a potential £500 prize and £500 for your college.
Find out more on the BALI Chalk Fund website.
Massive congratulations to Chloë Webster, who’s been chosen as KLC’s Garden Design Student of the Year.
Chloë has excelled in her Garden Design Diploma this year, having been described as “thoughtful, capable, and dynamic” by her tutors.
Well done, Chloë! 💚🏡
Casa Vicens was recommended to us by a friend because it was quieter (in both its elegance and its visitor numbers) than some of Gaudi’s better known architectural works.
What they didn’t mention, and what I didn’t discover until my return, is that this particular abode was purposefully designed to blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors.
This is evident from the original plans (which are predominantly garden), as well as certain features in the architecture that fold both the landscape and its light back into it.
But it’s within the decorative features that a more symbolic connection is held. Here, the flat lines of these floor plans seem to pull themselves up and form a backdrop for Gaudi’s distinct set of botanical references. Peppered across the floors, each of these offers up a gesture of meaning to its occupants.
The most prevalent of these are the French marigolds which adorn the house’s exterior in the form of hand-painted tiles. Inspired by the flora which originally occupied the site, this tessellation is a means to recall the landscape as it once was, when it no longer could be.
In the bedroom, blackberries sit patiently, waiting to be plucked from the ceiling as they whisper promises of prosperity and wellbeing. Delicate depictions of the passion flower nod to spirituality: their composition representing the Passion of Christ (the petals as apostles, the corona as a crown of thorns). Though I’m not religious, I do find the idea that the structure of a flower summoning such a scene impossibly compelling.
In the dining room, ivy clambers up the walls as if to suggest that the house might have turned itself inside out, and reaches up to the ceiling, culminating in a custodial awning of peace-keeping olive branches (especially useful for family dinners).
Lining the edges of this scene are the fan palms which have marshalled themselves into neat rows and formed entrance gates. As the only species of palm native to Europe, these situate the house in its locale while simultaneously evoking the landscapes of elsewhere.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭
The butterfly effect is a theory which suggests that even the smallest actions can have consequences which far outweigh their immediate impact.
This North London community garden may have a compact footprint, but this belies the enormity of its impact: offering educational programmes, gigs, horticultural workshops, spiritual events, and apprenticeships to a community where over 180 languages are spoken.
Given that the movement and flow of people are inherent to its character, the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) - the largest migratory butterfly seen in the British Isles - became a perfect reference point for this project. Its distinctive markings are what have shaped the masterplan for the site, forming relaxed, accessible pathways and undulating planting beds.
Given the strength of character within the garden, the design intends to grow with the site’s informal, community-owned feel rather than over it.
1. Masterplan
2. Early stage Masterplan
3. Monarch butterfly
4. Visual of entrance
5. Visual of new events area
6. Fennel in the allotment beds
7. Insect hotel on a tree trunk
8. Allotment beds and entrance
Congratulations 2024 graduate Chloë Webster @epic.phyter 🌞🌄👏
Chloë has a “passion for creating dynamic, community-focused projects that foster meaningful connections between people and the natural world. My work is rooted in strong, research-driven concepts that blend historic inquiry with experimental materials. Weaving an artistic practice with sustainability, I seek to make environmentally conscious design both functional and beautiful.”
Congratulations Chloë we are so proud and you should be too 🌟🌟🌟 can’t wait to see what you do next!
Link in bio to view Chloë‘s colourful portfolio! 👏👏👏
@klcschool #gardendesigncourse #garden #designcourse
One of my fave days of the @klcgardendip course so far exploring the libraries @ribalondon and @the_rhs .
In case it wasn’t already obvious, I absolutely ❤️🔥 research BUT in the midst of my rigorous web-surfing I often forget just how narrow the algorithmic tracks I am following are. Today, I returned to the realm of physical matter: of people and paper, and found amongst them the serendipity latent within a consciously organised bookshelf.
I present to you here some choice offerings of my frankly fiendish consumption of the day…
I often catch myself thinking and talking about how the landscape around us is changing, morphing, dilapidating; about all its particulates dissolving themselves from solid ground into sea, all its debris sweeping itself into airborne spirals, all its prefab pieces flattening themselves - layer upon layer - into new builds and high rises, all its great swathes of green seething from burnt orange to black.
In the midst of all this rapid change, I sometimes forget that there are still signs of longevity in this world.
But when the sky puts on a cabaret like this, I am always reminded of the fact that this is the same sky that JMW Turner once used as reference. Capable, as he was, of translating this frankly unfathomable phenomenon, makes something immediately clear to me. Sure, the sky never repeats the same sensitively composed display, but it - in its essential form - has always been there. Always up to the same tricks, ever the stoic foil to our permanently altered landscape.
