Drawn Into the Garden: An Artist's Journey
Take a stroll through Helen Stewart's enchanted garden, and discover the allure
of living in creative relationship with soil and soul. Gardening is in Helen's
blood. Her great grandfather ran the world's largest nursery of his time.
Following in his footsteps, Helen, a former sheep farmer, turned artist, author
and community weaver -- has gradually transformed the grounds of her heritage
home in Victoria, Canada, into a place of wonder and quiet revolution. There is
a combination of reverence, ecological wisdom, and whimsy to her approach. While
all manner of creatures are nourished by her garden, Helen only plants things
that she intends to draw, and she is guided by a conviction that gardens are
meditative spaces. They deepen not just our contact with ourselves, but also our
connection to the world, and give us new ways of seeing our place in it.
This short film, that shares its title with Helen's latest book, is a sanctuary onto itself. Watch, and let a little bit of Helen's green, growing world spill into yours.