Learn more about Buttermarket tenant Caroline Pedler’s new exhibition.

Caroline Pedler is an artist, illustrator and educator, and has recently moved into one of the Buttermarket workspaces. Being a professional illustrator she normally works to brief and tight deadlines, so the intention is to use the new space to play with process and application, partly funded by Arts Council England. The starting point for this new era of creative development was initiated by her first self-authored book, The Accidental Gardener. A story that originated very much from personal experience, which she discusses below.

“The book idea started in my second year of my Masters degree in 2010, where I developed a love of paint, texture and composition through abstract pieces, later creating an abstract wordless narrative for my final show. After graduating I continued to go sketching on location, making a series of landscapes and digitally composing a collage character into each, forming a loose narrative. This series of works was then successful in international exhibitions and went on world tours.

In 2018 I experienced a period of trauma and turned to my sketchbooks to physically draw out my feelings. While being cathartic it also helped me develop a story idea from those sketchbook pieces. Using my skills as a picturebook illustrator I sketched a story idea out over a few months. In 2019 I presented my creative process at an Illustration Research Symposium ‘Illustrating Mental Health’ in Worcester and later turned it into an academic paper for the Journal of Illustration.

In 2020, the more developed double page spreads for this potential picturebook won a prestigious award in China, which gave me the confidence to finish the artwork and send to Dpictus unpublished showcase; where your story is put in front of numerous international publishers at Bologna Children’s Book Fair. I gathered invaluable feedback and recognition, however it remained unpublished.

Just before sending the book to the Dpictus showcase in 2022 I was struggling with a name for the character, in the last-minute edits I chose the name of my beloved dog, (Italian Spinone), who had passed in 2020 prematurely, so the character was named Bobo. It stuck and I love that a character so special to me in real life is the main character of my first self-authored book.

Two years later and a space became available in Redruth and I had some prints back from the exhibitions abroad, so I suggested to James the venue manager that I did a show as a test run for his new space. He agreed and here we are.

The book itself was inspired by my own feelings of overwhelm but also those of a close family member who suffered a breakdown, and after a period of mental paralysis, finding solace in propagating seedlings in his back garden, sharing them with his neighbours. Leading him later, by accident, to being a gardener.

What the show has started to highlight is that the story is very well-loved and people resonate with it on a very personal, emotional level. The artwork has captured people’s hearts, and it makes me feel happy that I have been able to communicate a very individual feeling in a way that is instantly recognisable to others.”

The Accidental Gardener can be viewed at the brand-new 89 Redruth ‘a creative space where ideas take shape’ from 11am to 4pm until Saturday the 30th of November. New space 89 Redruth can be found on the pedestrianised part of Fore Street, opposite the cinema. The Fair Meadow car park is also conveniently located nearby and free after 6pm.

There are also a number of events as part of the exhibition, as well as a special late opening for the Redruth Christmas lights switch on this Saturday 30th November. More information can be found here.