Tuesday 17 January
The Chelsea Table
Andy's model of The M&G Garden
This is what sits next to my desk on ‘The Chelsea Table’ which arrived in my studio en route to a garage for storage. It had only been there for 5 minutes when someone put something on it. That was nearly 2 years ago and it is now the almost permanent home to a model of The M&G Garden alongside samples of all the stone and other materials we will use. By the end of March when the plants start growing I’ll add various leaves and flowers from time to time so I can see how all the colours and textures work together. And I will look at this every day and pick things up and go and put them on the pavement so I can see what they look like in sunshine (I am always optimistic). I should probably move it all into another room – out of sight and out of mind – but somehow I feel the stress and worry is all part of the process and without it the garden won’t be successful. You often hear accomplished actors saying they still get nervous before they go on stage, well I think this is a similar thing. Too much confidence can lead to a poor performance so the model will stay there, penetrating my thoughts at inconvenient times and generally being a nuisance.
Andy Sturgeon
M&G Garden 2012 designer
