For 19 years, Suzann and Jon Partridge have turned their beautiful country property near Bracebridge, Ontario into an outdoor gallery featuring the garden-inspired art of dozens of talented Ontario artists.
Welcome to the Artful Garden, with the 2016 show running from July 23rd through August 14th.
It is a generous gesture from these accomplished and well-known potters, who met in art class at high school in Toronto more than 45 years ago.
Jon’s pottery is in collections throughout the world.
Though the show started almost two decades ago, it was 1974 when the young couple moved to what was then a neglected 100-acre Muskoka farm. Their house is modest and typical of the old brick farmhouses that dot Ontario. It’s also visitors’ introduction to the Artful Garden, which I have been photographing through the years. (Note: Some photos below are from my previous visits.)
Suzanne has worked tirelessly developing her gorgeous gardens, which now total more than a dozen areas. They feature sun-loving perennials like blazing star, left (Liatris spicata) and daylilies.
…and purple coneflower…
….and hostas for her shady corners….
… and vines like the honeysuckle that climbs an arch in June….
…and beautiful annuals in windowboxes.
There are vegetables and herbs….
….a pond….
and several pottery fountains.
Jon & Suzann share their property with a chocolate Lab…
…a gaggle of specialty fowl that roam freely throughout the gardens…..
…and loads of butterflies and bees, like this honey bee nectaraing on the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)….
…. in the huge field adjacent to the garden. On busy Artful Garden days, some of the other neighbouring fields are conscripted for parking.
There’s also a summer arts camp for kids, and on the day I was there this week, they were making delightful fresh floral ‘paintings’.
Suzann is especially skilled at knowing exactly which little corner will make the perfect vignette for the art displayed for three weeks each summer, like Laura Moore’s artistic rendition of a virus, set in verbena and osteospermum.
And Mark Clark’s “happy pills’, in a carpet of calendula.
Here are bulrushes in echinacea, courtesy of metal artist Lino Barbosa.
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Jean Pierre Schoss always has a big display of his metal work.
This is his Flying Bird.
The 2016 poster art is of multimedia artist Jamie Brick’s beautiful ‘Vines’ sculpture.
This cottage-themed mailbox of Derek Green’s is fun.
Robert Graves’s glass art was shimmering in many of the garden beds.
Tod Waring’s metal garden stakes are beautiful. These are calla lilies…
…and he’s also done some fancy birds in flight.
There are lots of artful flowers, naturally, ready for visitors to purchase and take home. These ones are by David Hickey.
These colourful flowers were in front of the pottery showroom…
…where Jon Partridge’s work is featured.
His beautiful pieces are in collections throughout the world.
And his work can be purchased throughout the year…
with visits on open days or by appointment.
Here’s one of the clay-working studios.
The sales office, of course, has its very own lovely garden.
Here are a few more of the artful garden pieces I’ve enjoyed through the years.
I love these kinetic works…
You can’t have too many birds in the garden…
…or roosters, for that matter….
And finally, here’s a little video I made to celebrate Suzann & Jon’s immense contribution to the art scene in Muskoka. Enjoy!