02 Apr Thursday…with a Cornish Japanese garden

Over the last 2 weeks I’ve been working flat out on The Fiveways Artist’s Magazine…a magazine for people wanting to follow an artist’s open house trail during the Brighton Festival and which features all 26 Open House Venues in the Fiveways area of Brighton, ( including my own ) and yesterday afternoon it was thankfully signed off to print!

I had actually escaped on Tuesday evening when I arrived in Cornwall for an Easter break, after a 7 hour drive, completely knackered and full of rubbish motorway snacks! So yesterday morning I just had a few e-mails to finish off.

In the afternoon I drove to Newquay to pick up my partner from the teeny tiny airport there. It it barely signposted and I enjoyed a ridiculously circuitous route, but just before the airport appeared I saw a sign to a Japanese Garden…it was an irresistible invitation!

Once I’d picked up my partner I suggested we should just have a quick look and see where it was…down a windy country lane and past a beautiful old convent we emerged in a tiny and very pretty village; St Mawgan. Past the craft shop ( which had a sign simply saying ‘Interesting Things’ ) there was the Japanese Garden and Bonsai Nursey.

 We were greeted by ‘Everything in here is half price…except the bonsai plants…and the literature…oh, yes and the compost; none of that’s half price.’

This was very positive encouragement for me…half price anything and I’m there!

To visit the garden was £4.50, so a magical door was opened…

 Set in about 2 acres here, in the middle of nowhere, here was a beautiful sanctuary complete with zen garden and wind chimes…and virtually no-one else!

It was a bright sunny day, as well as slightly chilly and quite blustery…but it was the calmness, the shapes and the meditation of sound which was a wonderful find, particularly after my head has been ready to explode over the last week ( you may have noticed how a lot of my instagram photos have been really close up over the last few days…that’s what always happens when I’m up against a deadline; things just seem to get smaller and smaller! )

What was a complete surprise and what I found incredible was that there were so many similarities to my Granny’s old garden!

I’m often going on about Beryl and her lkebana here on the blog, but she also had the most fantastic garden ( I’m going to try and find some photos when I next go back to see my Mum ). She used to have open days for her garden, and although I loved being in it as a child, it never occurred to me what she had done with it or how extraordinary it was…

Moss covered rocks underneath Japanese Acers, koi carp and golden orph in the ponds swimming under miniature bridges, twisted willows and strategically placed root sculptures…she had obviously not only been inspired by Japanese flower arranging, but also Japanese gardening! Why do we discover such interesting things about our relations and which deeply connect to our own lives, only when they’ve died! I so wished I could have had her there to have a chat and a share…anyway, at least her garden had seeped into my being without me noticing and so when presented with this surprise Cornish Japanese garden…there was something very peaceful and thankful in me…

 I took loads of pictures, so I’m going to stop with the words…apart from saying that if you’re visiting Cornwall, visit this garden…the nursery is closing down in October this year and after that, the garden will only be open from April – October…so go get your half price ceramics!!

There were also some fantastic natural textures…

…and great ceramics…as well as some vintage nick-nacks ( we came away with a plate and an ikebana vase! )

…there’s something about the simplicity in these aesthetics which I just completely needed this week!

There’s also a Steller Story to have a flip through here