The Gold Rush
Through a concertina stream of consciousness, I discover a secret farm shop, cooking delights and lockdown gardening. The magical planting of seeds transports me from my cozy vegetable patch to the vast temples of Angkor.
I suddenly found an interest in gardening during the pandemic 2020 like everyone else who were either gardening or baking. I became obsessed with growing courgettes. I had 3 plants in 3 large recycling tubs squeezed into my small front courtyard. Mainly because their leaves grew to gigantic proportions with a constant speedy bloom of bright yellow flowers that always delighted me every morning. I was told about a secret farm shop tucked behind a mews, one of those magical places you only find out about through word of mouth. Wooden wall shelves were stacked with organic produce; cucumbers, peppers, squash, tomatoes, chillies and various herbs. The produce was written on a white board with prices and there is a grocer’s kitchen scales as part of the self service. My favourite bit is dropping your coins into a long tube which is transported through a hole in the wall and notes can be shoved down with a long pole. I had never seen yellow courgettes, and so intrigued by the colour I used it as part of a fish curry. I was hooked thereafter.
My little front garden proved a great drawing spot and after having completed two online courses at the Royal Drawing School- ‘Drawing Landscape, Gardens and Natural Forms’ and ‘Drawing Graphic Narratives’, drawing from observation and imagination naturally led to narratives forming. Forms changed shape on each folded page like a surreal short animation, stream of consciousness, a mini concertina comic. Somehow, I likened the yellow courgette flowers to the elaborate gold headdresses of celestial nymphs, commonly called apsaras which are sculpted on the walls of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The courgettes, growing from magical seeds under the full moon, shape-shift into these dancing apsaras. Perhaps, it symbolised a form of escape? of wanting to be elsewhere, travel and adventure.
