To stand and stare
with Laura Ellen Bacon
Photograph: Alun Callender
I was in that state of contented flow you sometimes hit when weeding, kneeling on my board in the veg pach and making good progress with the wood avens and couch grass, when a piece on the BBC Woman’s Hour Craft Prize came on the radio. It describing the work of sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon and, intrigued, I pulled off a gardening glove to get my phone out, finding a signal and jabbing a muddy finger at the screen (how does the soil get inside the gloves?), till the display was filled with images of the most fantastic, organic, tactile forms, folding in and billowing out like some fluid and magical moment captured and given substance. I was fascinated.
And so, when the opportunity to get Laura on the podcast came up, I leapt at the chance. We talked how she adapts her creative process for her own garden, making intimate garden spaces, and how much time she spends just standing about and thinking, as well as how becoming a mother has impacted what she’s making.
I hope you enjoy this episode – please continue to share the podcast on social media, and if you’d really like to brighten my day, leave a review on iTunes or your podcast app of choice. Or drop me a note in the comments section below, having listened on the embedded player on this page.
Gardens, weeds and words podcast, S01E06 show notes
A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
These notes may contain affiliate links.
Garden soundtrack
January, and standing about in the cold.
Winter readings.
Lines from Alexander Pope’s Epistle IV, to Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius_loci
Leisure, by William Henry Davies
Interview with Laura Ellen Bacon
05:39 Plant memories
10:00 Laura’s materials
12:05 Describing Laura’s work
14:08 Creative process
15:10 Finding a sense of place
18:10 Characteristics of a space
18:46 Laura’s own garden
22:38 Working with a softer, more organic backdrop of the garden
31:05 Movement in Laura’s work
33:16 How being a mother has changed things
38:52 Creating intimate garden spaces
Laura’s website is http://lauraellenbacon.com
You can find her on on Twitter at http://twiter.com/lauraellenbacon and Instagram http://instagram.com/lauraellenbacon
You can read details about the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize here
With thanks to Laura for being my guest this episode, and again to Beth Pinkerton for providing her smooth tones for the reading, once more at absurdly short notice. You can find Beth here: Twitter https://twitter.com/MissPinks Instagram instagram.com/misspinks
website: gardensweedsandwords.com
email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
Instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
Twitter: twitter.com/AndrewTimothyOB
You can hear find the podcast trailer and the first four episodes here, either on iTunes or on Switcher.
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Hello! I’m Andrew, gardener, writer, photographer, and owner of a too-loud laugh, and I’m so pleased you’ve found your way to Gardens, weeds & words. You can read a more in-depth profile of me on the About page, or by clicking this image.