The Gardeners of Orkney – available now
I am very pleased to have worked with Fiona Grahame once again on the design, layout and cover illustration for her latest book, The Gardeners of Orkney 1837-1901, published by Orkney News Ltd.
In the 19th Century Orkney was home to a number of wealthy landowners connected to burgeoning industries and businesses such as straw-plaiting, mercantile trade, and farming. The people benefiting most from the the industrial revolution and the growth of the British Empire built large stately homes and employed numerous gardeners for both decorative landscaping and the growing of food produce. Some were passionate gardeners who imported seeds and attempted to grow some quite exotic strains of vegetables, flowers, and other plants in Orkney.
Fiona’s meticulous research uncovers as much as it is possible to know about the gardeners as people; their backgrounds and living circumstances. Their legacy lives on even in places such as Garden Street in Kirkwall, which sadly no longer has any gardens.
For the cover illustration I chose to focus on the growing of vegetables, and to that end I created a small still life drawn in watercolour pencil, set into a grassy textured backdrop. The design is straightforward and no-nonsense to reflect Fiona’s factual writing style and to match the format of her previous book The Strawplaiters of Orkney. The book also contains photos taken by Fiona of the surviving garden locations, and select historical photos licensed from Orkney Library and Archive.
The Gardeners of Orkney is available now from all good booksellers.