Archives for posts with tag: Flowers

Guest Post: House & Garden – June 1970

June 13, 2013 //

House & Garden – June 1970 by Olivia Hantken

I picked up this treasure whilst shopping with my mum in Brunswick many years ago. There was a big stack and I regret that we only bought two! They float between her bookcase and mine as we not only love the beautiful images, but enjoy the time warp we enter when reading them.

Whilst not strictly gardens, below is a series of images from this issue featuring alfresco living ideas and interior design.

My favourite is without a doubt the bean bag room. This was taken from the penthouse of french actor Francois Perrier (on Boulevard St Germain of course!). He was aided by interior decorator Francois Arnal, who also painted the black and white composition on the far wall.

Along with the Zanuda bean bag chairs, the feature cactus and amazing ash trays make me conjure images of some of the amazing parties Francois must have thrown.

All images from House & Garden – June 1970. British, American, French No. 6 Whole No. 250 Volume 25 The Conde Nast Publication.

Tags 1970s, alfresco dining, alfresco living, beanbags, Flowers, francois arnal, francois perrier, garden, house and garden, indoor plants, olivia hantken, zanuda

Categories Architecture, Art, Design, Flowers, Interior Design, Plants

Guest Post: Hanging Gardens

June 10, 2013 //

After a successful first guest post the other week, Olivia Hantken will be back taking care of the blog this week while I on holiday in Japan.

I will be posting plenty of shots on Instagram, so be sure to follow me @thesecretgardenblog

Hanging Gardens by Olivia Hantken

Vintage gardening magazines seem to be taking over more and more of my bookshelf, so I will be sharing selected images from some of my favourites over the next few weeks.

The first is a little gem I found called Sunset Ideas for Hanging Gardens. It was published in 1974 and features instructions and trends for a variety of suspended gardens. Some of my favourites are the giant boston fern (being watered from a ladder), the donkey tail sedum, the string of beads and the bonsai cedar with moss.

All images from Sunset Ideas for Hanging Gardens, Lane Publishing co. California 1974.

Tags bonsai, boston fern, donkey tail sedum, fern, Flowers, hanging gardens, hanging plants, moss, olivia hantken, sunset ideas for hanging gardens, sunset magazine

Categories Flowers, Interior Design, Photography, Plants

Claire Basler

June 6, 2013 //

French floral artist Claire Basler’s home and studio in Les Ormes, and hour an a half from Paris, is filled the nature. There is a constant flow of fresh floral displays which inspire her paintings, drawings and textile designs, all of which also blanket the property.

Photographs one and two by Mads Mogensen for Elle Decor South Africa, photographs three to eight and all artworks by Claire Basler.

Tags claire basler, drawing, elle decor, floral artist, Flowers, france, les ormes, mads mogensen, painting, peonies, poppies, textiles

Categories Architecture, Art, Design, Flowers, Interior Design, Nature, Photography

Guest Post: Frozen Flowers

May 31, 2013 //

Friends are constantly sending me bits and pieces about gardens and flowers, so I figured it was time to give some a chance to guest post on the blog. So that brings us to our first ever guest post by the lovely Olivia Hantken. Liv works at innovative design and film collective Collider, and has a key eye for aesthetics. Please welcome her to The Secret Garden!

Frozen Flowers by Olivia Hantken

Tomorrow is the first day of winter, but in Sydney it’s feeling more like spring. Our gardens will be happy at least, and far happier than in Kiev, Ukraine, where winter can mean a freezing over of everything green.

Earlier this year the Ukranian’s embraced this notion and held their first frozen flower exhibition The Flowers of the Snow Queen. Inspired by Hans Christan Andersen’s children’s tale The Snow Queen, the event symbolises the coming together of summer and winter / warmth and cold.

The frozen artworks were created over seven days using 250 litres of distilled water repeatedly poured over the arrangements to create layers of ice.

Frozen Flowers Not related to this exhibition, but beautiful nonetheless are these pictures of flowers dripping in ice.

Tags collider, Flowers, frozen flowers, ice, olivia hantken, snow, the flowers of the snow queen, the snow queen, ukraine, winter

Categories Art, Design, Flowers, Nature

Moorten Garden

May 29, 2013 //

This one acre, family owned botanical garden and cactarium in Palm Springs is filled with 3000 varieties of desert plants. I would love to visit on my next trip to the States.

Moorten Garden Photos one, two, six and seven by Amy Merrick. Three, four and five by Chuck B.

More info on the garden here.

Tags amy merrick, botanical garden, cactarium, cacti, cactus, desert, desert plants, Flowers, garden, moorten cactarium, moorten garden, palm springs

Categories Design, Flowers, Garden, Nature, Photography, Plants

Henry Darger

May 20, 2013 //

Henry Darger is an artist and writer with an unusual story. He was orphaned and institutionalised as a young child and spent his adult life living as a recluse in Chicago. It was only after his death that Darger’s landlord discovered an epic 15,145 page narrative titled The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion.

The story follows seven young girls as they fight against a variety of sadistic adults while being protected by a slew of fantastical animals. The writings are accompanied by several hundred drawings and watercolour paintings. Some of the images are calm and filled with flowers. Others a violent and tortured. It’s an incredible juxtaposition between innocence and extreme brutality, and gives us a glimpse into the mind of this mysterious man.

Jessica Yu made a film about Darger and his work The Realms of the Unreal (2004).

Tags art, artist, chicago, collage, drawing, Flowers, henry darger, painting, vivian girls, watercolour

Categories Art, Flowers

Potheads

May 17, 2013 //

Artist and ceramicist Kim Jaeger has been creating these super cute ‘potheads’ since 2011.

Historia Films (a collaboration between photographer Mike Smith and blogger Laura Quattrocelli) have made a little film about Jaeger’s work. You can also check out an interview with her on The Design Files.

My mother has a vase at home which reminds me of these potheads. It’s by Arab Australian artist Salwa El-Shaikh.

Photograph by Sophia Kaplan.

Tags ceramics, Flowers, historia films, indoor plants, kim jaeger, plants, potheads, pots, salwa el-shaikh, sculpture, the design files, vase

Categories Art, Design, Garden, Interior Design, Plants

Aubin & Wills

May 3, 2013 //

I love the plants (and clothes, and styling) in this lookbook for (now defunct) English brand Aubin & Wills’ spring 2012 collection. The photographs feature Blur’s bass guitarist Alex James and Romanian/ Canadian model Irina Lazereanu.

All images and video from Aubin & Wills.

Tags alex james, aubin & wills, blur, fashion, fiddle leaf, Flowers, indoor plants, irina lazareanu, lookbook, model, musician, plants, vines

Categories Architecture, Design, Fashion, Flowers, Interior Design, Photography, Plants

Kinfolk Potluck

April 30, 2013 //

This past weekend Kinfolk Magazine hosted flower potluck gatherings across the world to celebrate the northern hemisphere’s entry into spring. Despite our autumnal weather Sydney was lucky enough to be included with an event in Chippendale hosted by photographer and designer Luisa Brimble along with floral and botanical stylist Aleksandra Schutz.

Guests were asked to bring an armload of flowers or greenery whether from their backyard, their local florist or the side of the road. Here are the resulting pictures taken by Luisa Brimble for Broadsheet.

Kinfolk9 Beautiful scissors $14 from Grosgrain.

Tags aleksandra schutz, broadsheet, chippendale, eucalypt, florist, flower potluck, Flowers, hydrangea, kinfolk, kinfolk magazine, luisa brimble, orange, pink, potluck, roses, spring, zinnias

Categories Design, Flowers, Interior Design, Photography

Karl Blossfeldt

April 19, 2013 //

Although Karl Blossfeldt’s botanical photogravures are his most famous work, he was also a well respected sculptor and professor of art. His interest in and eye for form and texture are evident in these images, which are striking in both the complexity of the subject and the simplicity of his photographic style. He used a homemade camera and had his work published in 1929 in his book Urformen der Kunst (Archetypes of Art).

Whitechapel Gallery in London is currently exhibiting a selection of his images until June 14, 2013.

Karl Blossfeldt 9 All photographs by Karl Blossfeldt.