Hogarth’s Mulberry Showcase 2021

Building on from our Hogarth's Mulberry Showcase last year where we shared creative pieces inspired by our 350-year-old mulberry tree from West London artists, this year we wanted to focus on the artistic process, not just the end result. We commissioned artist Rachael Kidd to create an artistic piece using poetry about the tree submitted by local artists and residents as her starting point.

Follow along as we unveil Rachael's piece throughout the festival.

Update 5 – Unveiling “The Space Between” by Rachael Kidd

“The Space Between”, Rachael Kidd, soft pastel on Fabriano paper, Womp Studios, Sheffield, May 2021 

Special thanks to: 

• Bensound.com for the music 

• Rachael Kidd and all our Hounslow poetry contributors for their unique creativity

• The London Borough of Hounslow and the National Lottery Heritage Fund for funding ‘Hogarth’s Mulberry Garden’ project

• and to the Urban Tree Festival Team for their hard work that makes this incredible festival possible year after year

Find out more about Rachael Kidd at www.rachaelkidd.com

Find out more about Hogarth’s House and the ‘Hogarth’s Mulberry Garden’ project at www.hogarthshouse.org 

Update 4 – The final touches

Rachael then begins the final piece, which adds additional colours and texture. She builds up layers in soft pastel and adds a fixative as she goes to set each one. Her use of fixed layers remind us of tree rings, each one setting year after year. This achieves a thick painterly effect. No blending!

Her final piece is almost ready to be unveiled…

Update 3 – Adding Colour

Rachael then plays with colour combinations for texture. This is quite an intuitive process for her, the colours were chosen by “playing around and going with the feel of the piece.”

It is nearly time for the finishing touches...

Update 2 – Evolving the inspiration 

Using the poems as a jumping off point, Rachael does some preliminary sketches in her sketchbook and then generates larger formats in charcoal. This lets her ideas evolve organically she says it helps her to “loosen up and let ideas surface and get a feel for form and composition of subject.”

She then considers adding colour...

Update 1 – The inspiration and artist’s set up 

Rachael had a lot of inspiration from our Hounslow community to work with, from written poetry, to spoken word to a sketch of the tree. Each contributor shared a personal, reflective and moving piece and we’ve included a selection here:

Stands a Mulberry Tree by Rajkiran Kalsi 

Beyond the wall stands a mulberry tree 

Older than the House of the artist, standing the test of time  

As years, decades and centuries have passed,  

The mulberry tree stands, with its roots planted firmly in the ground.  

As the seasons pass, the leaves fall, only to renew and regrow in the months ahead 

The wall hides a garden of beauty and greenery, sitting just off the busy A4 Great West Road 

A great tree, who’s watched, from carriages to cars, horses to HGVs, 

From local Londoners and all those near and far.  

The boundaries of nature and reality around this tree make me think 

Of what people on the other side are missing out on 

To watch and see, as the day goes on, the tree is there, taking it all in 

It gives me peace and tranquillity amidst the ever-evolving climate we’re in  

The tree stands tall, somehow bringing the whole garden together, bringing us all together.  

Go Forth Plant a Tree by Pauline Singh

Plant a tree like the 'Mulberry',

so in time it can make a part of history.

Underneath the sun go forth,

plant a tree to help the earth.

Underneath the sky before it will snow,

plant a tree and watch it grow,

Underneath the blue sky in the evening,

plant a tree for everyone's wellbeing.

Underneath the rainy clouds so dark,

plant a tree in your local park.

Underneath but over the cement,

plant a tree for a greener environment.

The mulberry tree by Christine E Osborne

The Mulberry Tree by Jacquie Foster

My roots go as deep

As the secrets I keep.

So much have I seen

Neath my fronds of green.

An orchard, a home,

A village long gone.

Alone yet surrounded,

I am solid and grounded.

My trunk has grown knobbly,

I need a stick to support me.

Flowers make a carpet at my feet,

I am the wise one, in my noble seat.

My harvest fills bowls,

As sunshine feeds the soul.

I am the stately mulberry tree,

No other is as old as me.

Rachael said these contributions led her to work “with general sense of timelessness, peacefulness, movement.” She also drew from a poem by Rilke (quoted by ‘The Poetics of Space’, which has always influenced the way she approaches her subject matter:

A special thank you to all of our Hounslow community contributors.

Rachael then sets the scene in her studio (Womp Studio in Sheffield) by putting on some good music in her headphones. She said she listens to all sorts of of music, making her way through the mixes her boyfriend makes.

She then preps her paper by soaking it, tapes it down to keep it flat and plans how she will fill the white space while that dries…

Contributor

Rachael Kidd is an artist based in Sheffield where she divides her time between her studio, working as a freelance gardener, and exploring the Peak. Her work is primarily about nature as a whole and how we fit within it. Before settling in Sheffield she lived for four years on the remote Scottish peninsula of Ardnamurchan. She studied Fine Art at Newcastle upon Tyne and graduated in 2013.

Visit Rachael’s website.

Hogarth’s House is located in Chiswick, west London. It is a historic house and former home of the 18th century artist William Hogarth. In the garden is a 350-year-old mulberry tree, the last remaining tree from the garden’s origin as a 17th century walled orchard. We are owned and operated by the London Borough of Hounslow and are undergoing a National Lottery Heritage Fund redevelopment project called Hogarth's Mulberry Garden Project.

Supported by London Borough of Hounslow and the Heritage Fund