As Helen Stewart leads me down the paths in her garden, pointing out various flowers, she looks at peace. “I feel the earth beneath my feet when I walk in my garden, and it makes me feel grounded,” she says. Helen has worked on her Victoria garden for more than 25 years, building this piece of paradise from virtually nothing.
Since Helen was a young girl, visiting her grandmother’s garden in Rochester, New York, she has been drawn to gardens and to the beauty of nature. “It was just like a fairyland to me,” says Helen. However, it wasn’t until later in her life that she began creating her own garden.
Helen grew up and studied in Berkeley, California. She attended various art schools and experimented with different techniques but found her niche when drawing nature. When she moved to a sheep farm in northern BC in 1965, she was able to draw what she loved. She and her family were largely self-sufficient; they had an enormous vegetable garden and had to learn how to take care of it. “People did not grow flowers there, they just grew vegetables,” says Helen. This lifestyle led to a respect for nature and for gardening.
The family’s final move from northern BC to Victoria was a huge change in many ways. There was no longer a need to be self-sufficient, so Helen decided to plant flowers along with a few vegetables. The new property, however, had only a bit of soil between rocks and ivy. “I really had to learn about soil,” says Helen.
She brought in truckloads of wood chips, compost, topsoil, and manure for her new garden. She dedicated herself to learning how to maintain healthy soil and without this, she wouldn’t be as fascinated by its important properties as she is now. “Life began in the soil and without the soil, we would not survive,” says Helen. She finds her work with the earth very rewarding and has documented the adventure in numerous, self-illustrated books and a short documentary video.
“Today, it is pretty hard to have an optimistic view on life while seeing the environmental damage all around one.”
Helen has struggled with the reality of climate change. In her book, Drawn into the Garden, she writes, “in the past 100 years, one third of our topsoil has been lost to erosion. As our soil diminishes, so do mankind’s chances of survival. We must consider the consequences of how we live, and everyone can make changes in their lifestyle that are positive and healthy. Joining a community garden, or making a small garden, even planting on your patio, you are helping the earth by improving the soil.”
“If your interest is in something positive, and you focus on that, then your perspective of the world changes.”
With her interest in the soil and its important properties, Helen finds herself working on her next literary project – a book dedicated to the importance of soil and focusing on what is happening below the surface.
“My Garden: Beauty Above, Wonders Below is going to show what is above the ground, and then I am drawing what is below the ground.” Her slightly whimsical illustrations are rich in colour and detail. Many different plants are depicted with their roots stretching far below the surface of the earth.
“I like that my drawings are botanically correct. Someone who is familiar with plants should be able to look at them and know the exact plant I have illustrated.”
She explains how she studies a plant by picking a piece to watch as the bud unfolds, and flowers open, and petals fall. Helen’s art is inspired by the cycle of life that can be seen and learned from in one’s garden.
By pairing her love for the earth with her love of art, Helen has used these skills to help nature and inspire others to do so as well.
“I plant in a painterly way because I am a painter,” explains Helen. She plans out and plants areas in her garden based on what she wants to paint. “For me, the garden is like an ever-changing painting.”
“It makes me feel grounded and like I am a part of something larger, also it gives me a different view of the world.” Helen sees her connection with her garden as a lesson in balance, perspective, and attentiveness to the natural world.
“I think a garden is your best educator and nature is the same,” she says. “You learn to appreciate each season, and every day when you look at your garden, there is something new and interesting to learn.”
To learn more, visit hestewart.com
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