VFTH … in the beginning
Life here in Somerset runs on happily.
Having lived in different parts of the country, I am strongly aware that each county, each line of hills or valleys has its own flavour, smell, their own wealth of stories.
Where we live there is a huge presence on both sides of our hill of both the dampness and the vital draining of the Somerset Levels. This large open landscape is impossible to drive across or walk through without the feeling that the fields are fragile, existing only because of the rhynes (ditches) and massive drains which cover this area. The King's Sedgemoor drain, for example, is large - more like a river than an artificial waterway - and diverts the River Cary into the River Parrett, helping to avoid the inevitable flooding which is such a regular issue in this part of Somerset.
Lily works and gardens up above the levels, with the Mendip Hills to the north and the iconic Glastonbury Tor to the South. The views both ways are spectacular.
A Winter View from the Hill - Lily’s iPad drawings
We call the exhibitions we hold Views From The Hill, a simple but definitive description of the event. Today I found a pile of the signs used in previous shows which one day we will use again. Lily's cast sculpture, which as Lily Sawtell Design at the Studio Gallery we exhibited for 20 years at the Chelsea Flower show, and many other RHS events like the Hampton Court Palace and Malvern shows, is available to see here, and for sale, as well as her most recent work.
In my next blog I will talk about Lily's newly re-launched website, and her recent illustrated book Odyssey, both of which are fantastic. I look forward to talking about them in the coming weeks.
