Page 26 - ALG Issue 4 2022

creative plotholders Sally Deegan
Midlands artist and allotmenteer Sally Deegan describes how allotments have inspired her artwork.
I’ve had an allotment for a number of years. To me, they are beautiful places, full of inspiration: I love the mix of sheds; greenhouses; polytunnels; crop protection and the patterns created by rows of vegetables and bean canes. I’m also inspired by textures like peeling paint and rust, which are a fairly common sight on allotments!
At some point before the pandemic,
I visited Boundary Way Arts Project,
an arts and heritage project based
at Boundary Way Allotments and Community Garden in Wolverhampton. I took photos of the plots as I walked through the site, and I was taken by the amazing sheds and greenhouses, some of which were built entirely from old window frames.
Despite enjoying art and loving allotments, it wasn’t until lockdown descended that I combined the two.
I began sketching and painting what I’d been drawn to for so long. I dug out my photos of the wonderful sheds and greenhouses at Boundary Way and painted ‘Barry’s Shed’ using inks and watercolour. Plot owner Barry later told me that he built it 25 years ago; it was made using old window frames. To me, it is both beautiful and ingenious.
My own plot has always been a bit wild, and it’s as much about flowers and wildlife as the fruit and vegetables. The first summer in lockdown, after being left so long untended, the calendulas took over my allotment in bursts of orange and yellow. That is what gave me the inspiration for ‘Summer on the Plot’, using inks, pastels, and corrugated card for the shed.
Boundary Way Project invited me to exhibit my artwork in their polytunnel, as part of two community open days and art events, firstly in October 2021, then again in March this year.
As I considered how to display my work, I thought about a much-loved rusty burner lid on my plot, which was doing nothing except looking nice (to my eyes, at least). This became the perfect way to frame an allotment view in inks, and ‘Through the Rusty Bin
Lid’ was born. When you peer through the hole in the lid, the artwork inside is revealed – views of allotments, sheds, and even a rusty bin lid itself. Playful, fun, and finding the beauty in old and worn objects.
Inspired by the greenhouses at Boundary Way, I also used an old
My own plot has always been a bit wild, and it’s as much about flowers and wildlife as the fruit and vegetables
window frame to display some of my sketches. I used old pieces of wood with peeling paint and rusty nails to frame my artwork, and I found that tools in the polytunnel, such as a garden rake, were perfect to hang pictures from.
Sally will be exhibiting at Boundary Way again later this year, and will also be exhibiting at the Museum of Cannock Chase from September 8th to October 27th.
More of Sally’s work can be seen
on Instagram: @sallydeeganart or Facebook: Inky Pebble.
Cards and prints are available to purchase from Sally’s online shop on Folksy: https://folksy.com/shops/ InkyPebble
For more information on Boundary Way Arts project visit www.boundaryway.co.uk
26 Allotment and Leisure Gardener