The idea was to produce a an image of a wall garden of succulent plants, each is planted in its own ‘box’ so that seeing the surround of the box should not be an issue. The idea was to work in tones of green and add spots of colour for the leaf edges and flowers. I wanted to create a garden that was complete.

I started to plan on paper but as I started to look for fabrics from my stash the ideas changed a bit as I realised that I had a load of green/brown silk tie samples which would work as the basic plants and could then be embellished. My first mistake was to cut them too tight so some have pulled away from the edge of the framework on which they were placed. I then let the fabric speak and began to use the piece as a collection of different techniques. I have machine and hand embroidered; I have added tyvek, beads, sequins (maybe a mistake?) and varying yarns. The edge is the same as the frame although I have added yarn to neaten the uneven edges, which maybe detracts from the overall chaotic effect. I think that it lacks the repetition one might find in this type of garden but once I had gone down the road of ‘scraps’ I didn’t have many the same.

If I were to start again I would certainly cut the squares slightly larger and put them on to Bonda-web rather than Filmoplast as a base because with the frame underneath the squares were not fixed down at the edges. I have used paint in places to touch up, or in one place to tone down the colour. It has been fun to do and gave me something to do on holiday. I would try something like this again because working each square separately kept me motivated and challenged me.