Written by local artist and designer Hannah Watters.
I am a watercolour artist and designer living in Fulham. My day job is heading up the communications and partnerships at a luxury hotel in Mayfair. It was the Covid lockdowns (when the travel industry came to a halt) that gave me the opportunity to start my small business selling my watercolour paintings. I try to draw and paint little and often and as much as I can painting from life. Living a stone’s throw away from Fulham Palace, I take much of my inspiration from it, particularly the walled garden – with its array of flowers and vegetables.
Having first visited the Palace with my parents as a child and being recently proposed to in the walled garden by my now husband, it holds a very special place in my heart. I can’t quite believe that I had been living in Fulham for several months before I first re-discovered it during the summer of 2019 during Covid, when my mother told me about it. Ever since that day I have returned multiple times a week and realise that I now have just under 1,000 photos of it in all of the different seasons!
The garden brings so much joy to so many of us and I find I am at my most relaxed when I am there. The volunteers and gardeners work so incredibly hard to create an oasis, cascading with flora and fauna for us to all enjoy. I feel fortunate to have it on my doorstep and love following the calendar of seasons by observing what’s in bloom in the walled garden. Every time I visit there is a new flower in bloom or vegetable ready to be picked!
When deciding on what to paint in collaboration with the Palace, we immediately thought of the greenhouse, which is always filled to the brim with hanging dried flowers, geraniums and hidden treasures. If you’re lucky, you might just get to shop at the Fulham Palace barrow (of which I am a regular…you must try their very own verbena tea!). The greenhouse is made particularly magical when it’s surrounded by the wall and fragrant aroma of wisteria in full bloom. There was no question that this part of Fulham Palace had to be one of the subjects for this series!
Meanwhile, the Tudor gate is the gateway to the garden. There is something so special about this little gate. It’s small and quaint with most visitors having to duck when they go through it. I always seem to spot Edmund guarding it when it’s open so I had to include him in this painting. He’s an excellent gatekeeper and it is his home after all!
