Artists
inspired by Eden Nature Garden
Rebecca Hollweg
is a singer-songwriter who lives in SW London. She has been a supporter of Eden Nature Garden for many years and wrote a song about it which you can hear a clip of here.
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For more information about Rebecca visit www.rebeccahollweg.com
Mick Bond
has been living in Clapham for many years and he started to revisit the Garden on an almost daily basis throughout the lockdown period as part of his midday stroll. Mick has been taking photographs there, making cyanotype prints, ink monoprints and drawings. Mick says, “Eden Nature Garden is an inspirational quiet corner of Clapham and long may it thrive.”
Anne Whitehouse
has lived in Clapham most of her life and has never wanted to move away. She is an amateur photographer whose main job is working for the NHS. In the past she’s focused on travel photos but during the pandemic she has become fascinated with nature and wildlife closer to home. In early 2021 she discovered the frogs at the Eden Nature Garden and has enjoyed capturing their life cycle.
Ana Jenkin
is a local author and illustrator who is passionate about nature. Early morning visits to the Garden inspired her to write this poem for her next collection of poetry (details to follow). “I love popping into Eden on my own, as that is when my imagination can run free and my senses soak up more of its beauty,” says Ana. “Too many parks and commons are over-sanitised and devoid of insect and other life. We need more buzzing, croaking, scented corners such as Eden Nature Garden. They are crucial to our happiness, wellbeing, education and, ultimately, survival.”
Eden (Spring to Summer)
I come early to this community garden
When the snaking lynx cat may give me a snippet of his attention
If I’m lucky, choose to, in passing, kiss my knees or toes
Does he ever purr? That I don’t yet know…
When the golden crescents of frogs remain fixed on the pond’s surface
Pretending to be absent
From their spring cloud of celandine yellow – each flower, eight petals
That I do know, because I counted them
When I can imagine, to the music of the eager honeybee
Just in that corner, by the periwinkle-spangled feet of the lime tree
Elves and fairies playing hide-and-seek
When the treasure chests are all mine to pour over – a brilliant spinach leaf
Here, the royal purple of a globe artichoke there, and dotted in between
All manner of precious wildflowers in other gardens dug up as weeds
Forget-me-nots, catmint, lemon balm, dead-nettles pink and cream
When, if I search, I may find Nature’s nectar chalices cradling
A buff-tailed bumblebee, two shining oil beetles, perhaps a painted lady
While at the furthest end, where the towering woodpile sits
How many creatures it holds and hides
I can only imagine
When I come early to Eden Nature Garden and float
For a little while above the city
© Ana Jenkin, March 2021. From her e-book, ‘A Natural Selection‘
Local Artist Groups
These images are from local artist groups who often visit the garden to draw and paint.
