THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Meet Stefano
Stefano works with us at Modern Mint, designing gardens with Darren (who, incidentally, also does garden talks) and turning his hand to just about anything the business needs in terms of logos, prints, signs and artwork.
He joined us at the end of 2014 and fit in magnificently, his positivity and quick thinking an exciting asset to a new company like ours. He also makes an incredible tiramisu (he is Italian, after all) and a fantastic pizza dough – after too many strong espressos we often float around the idea that we should open a Modern Mint pizzeria too…. they really are that good!
To celebrate Stefano and the skills he brings to Modern Mint we decided to set him a challenge – to illustrate 99 Flowers in 99 days.
Which flowers and what style is completely up to him – what we wanted to see was a body of work created by an artisan, that when viewed together turned out to have extraordinary weight and depth. Is that a lot to put on someone, do you think? It could possibly be, but our man Stefano took up the challenge and so, we invite you to please take a little time to view and enjoy the 99 Flowers project by Stefano of Modern Mint.
For more of these amazing drawings, and to see how the style evolves throughout the 99 days, visit 99 Flowers by Stefano on Pinterest and Facebook.
10 Years Of Modern Mint
On Valentine’s day this year (2024) Modern Mint, the company I started when I moved to Essex to explore a fresh, contemporary approach to gardening, will be 10 years old. The cliche is time flies… but it does! So much has happened in a decade, from studying topiary with Charlotte Molesworth, to clipping all over the UK (and eventually in the USA and Sweden) to selling shears and secateurs at garden shows and hiding away my reticence to give talks about gardening and topiary to Horticultural Societies across the UK. Ten years feels a good time to mark a new …
Garden Masterclass Trailer – The Modern Topiarist
In 2022 I did a free video for Garden Masterclass, the Annie Guilfoyle and Noel Kingsley run website that is a treasure trove of the great and good of the horticultural world – well worth looking through all the wonderful talks they have available, like meadow-maker James Hitchmough or nurserywoman Rosy Hardy. They are certainly inspirational! Perfect for watching and dreaming up new ideas during the winter months… As a follow-up to my Topiary Provocations video (which you can see on Youtube for free) I was asked to do a video for their Masterclass series on how to make topiary. …
Charlotte Molesworth’s Garden In The FT
The lovely garden of my mentor Charlotte Molesworth is featured here in the Financial Times in the last week or so… She has been interviewed lots of times but I thought this was a particularly great piece, with some photos done at unusual angles and different parts… so well worth a read. For more on topiary by Charlotte Molesworth…