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.
Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones
I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …
The Henderson, Topiary Art Interview on Instagram
In a suit… eek! View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Henderson (@thehenderson_hk)
Topiary, The Art Garden at The Henderson
The Art Garden at The Henderson in Hong-Kong has now opened to the public. I joined the project last March, to work with Gillespies Landscape Architects on the topiary that had been designed for the Art Garden, which gives a calm, green space below the extraordinary Henderson skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The garden has been designed with butterflies in mind, so lots of nectar plants, and has other art projects and installations within its footprint. The history of the site is interesting too – it was originally the first cricket ground in Hong-Kong! So still a green space….! …