An Artist’s Garden is the culmination of many seasons spent cultivating both garden and practice for Sam Michelle, where daily acts of care, observation, and attentiveness shape each painting. As Michelle notes, “My garden is not separate from my practice. Nurturing it is where every painting begins.” What started as a desire to grow flowers to paint has evolved into a ritual grounded in tending soil, nurturing seedlings, and responding to the rhythms of nature and the changing seasons.

Time in the garden becomes a space of restoration and clarity, where senses sharpen and attention deepens—towards colour, form, texture, fragility, and resilience. This sustained practice flows directly into the studio, shaping a way of painting that is intuitive, responsive, and deeply connected to the natural world.

The still-life paintings in An Artist’s Garden celebrate flowers grown on and around Michelle’s coastal property, capturing fleeting seasonal moments and preserving them in oil paint. The exhibition invites viewers to pause, look closely, and reconnect with the quiet nourishment offered by nature and sustained creative care.

Sam Michelle, 2026, White Wisteria, Clematis and Scabiosa, Oil on canvas, 125 x 153 cm