Garden as Body
is a collection of mixed media cyanotypes and creative writing created by Kim Arthurs (@moonersmakes) a Providence-based artist, writer, and educator. Garden as Body explores a tender collaboration with visual art and creative writing, rooted in therapeutic garden influence. There are 70 pieces in this collection that are in conversation, weaving a cyclical narrative of inevitable changes in seasons, life, and the balance of light and dark. It casts shadows on emotion, flickers reflections of nature and nurture, and illuminates dynamic manifestations of growth in times of highs and lows, love and loss, grief and abundance through vivid, botanical dreamscapes and various forms of creative writing. Just as Kim has nurtured and grown their garden over the years, they have grown this collection alongside the garden blooms. Garden as Body has been growing for nearly two years, conjured during/influenced by the artist’s Saturn Return. Garden as Body invites you to join the whirlpool of its journey, to root yourself in its garden, to consider what seeds you choose to plant, to surrender to the cycles of it all, and celebrate its inevitable changes as the wheel keeps turning.
Garden as Body welcomes you to plant blue in the garden.
Garden as Body
uses Cyanotype as the primary medium, incorporating botanicals grown by the artist in their garden, or foraged from walks in the woods and beaches around Rhode Island, and often printed in sunlight in the garden when the season allows. Garden as Body embraces an elemental, spiritual practice of blending Earth (botanicals) Fire (sun) Water (development) and Air (drying/archiving) to conjure the archive of botanical dreamscapes orbiting around you in this gallery. Three years ago, basically to the day, Kim showcased their first art collection Rooted in the Deep at Aeronaut Brewing in Everett, MA. Garden as Body is Kim’s debut official solo show at a gallery. To evoke a bonus cosmic charm from this collection, most of these pieces have glow-in-the-dark elements, a reminder that even in the dark, there is always a promising flicker of light, a hopeful return.
Garden as Body is on view at Pawtucket Arts Collaborative February 15 - February 23, 2025
Viewing Times: 2/15 2-4:30pm 2/16 4-6pm 2/21 4-6pm 2/22 1-4pm 2/23 (closing) 1-4pm
Garden
Garden as Altar
9”x12” Mixed Media Cyanotype & Poetry
Garden As Altar is a mixed media cyanotype printed in sunlight in the garden, blending visual art with poetry and photography, showcasing botanicals harvested from the artist’s garden and a striking image of a Garden Altar arranged on the full Sturgeon Moon of 2024, surrounded by bright blooms of perennials. This altar serves as the heart to this collection, illuminating the sacred space of the garden, marrying the practice and care of garden with self, and tying the emotional and intuitive influence of garden and universe together with self through language as mantra, a haiku, repeated three times for good luck. It is in the garden where the artist plants their intentions, lays their roots, nurtures them, grows with them, and calls it magic, calls it God, calls it home, calls it self.
As Altar
Garden as
Tarot
The Garden as Tarot series features a set of 4 9”x12” mixed media cyanotypes with haiku, featuring an Altar showcasing four Tarot cards. The selected four Tarot cards are Major Arcana that signify major points in The Fool’s Journey. Each Garden as Tarot piece is arranged around the gallery, rooted in the collection in a circle. The Fool’s Journey to enlightenment and expansion mirrors moments in the artist’s cyclical journey of non-linear healing expressed through a ten-page memoir, poetry, notes, short story, and visual mixed media art.
The Fool’s Rose: The Fool chooses to plant blue in the garden.
Garden as
Community
Garden as Community both the poem, and the mixed media Cyanotype remind us that you can try to do it all on your own, but the real magic and power can be found in community, to help ease the burden and reimagine it into a labour of love and support. “Garden as Community” were both showcased in We All Live Here Together, a beautifully curated exhibition installed at the Providence Public Library by Creature Conserve & Kotone Deguchi.
This exhibition asks us: How do we bring conservation into our daily lives?
“Garden as Community” answers with:
We are not alone here. Nature is social and so are we. Nature builds together and so can we. Let people help. Let the crow nest stay. Let the anthill stay. Tend to the garden together.
Find Your Companion Plants. Weed the garden together. Prune Each other’s Pain. Share the fruit!
How do you plant blue
in your garden?
Blue is the rarest pigment in Nature, and the most alluring to pollinators. Blue can be imagined, interpreted, practiced, and planted in many ways. Garden as Body asks you to consider How do you plant blue in your garden?
Planting Blue in the Garden (mixed media cyanotype and poetry)
The Wheel of the Year
is a Pagan celebration of the seasons. Solar events such as solstices, equinoxes, and the midway points between them are recognized with annual festivals that celebrates the return of the light and darkness, and honors the cyclical nature of the changing seasons. We fall into rhythm with the changes brought by each season, and the festivals of The Wheel of the Year celebrate the labour and nurture that goes into cultivating a fruitful harvest, as well as the labour and nurture that is required of self to sustain a fruitful harvest. The Wheel of the Year encourages gathering with community to honor each of the eight festivals, whether it is to plant seeds of intention together, take turns watering the garden, sharing the fruit that we have grown, or putting the garden to sleep for the winter while we wait as the light returns again. The Wheel of the Year reminds us that everything changes, and invites us to surrender to that truth and find rhythm, balance, and peace with the flow of it all as it cycles on, again & again & again.
Garden as Body
This collection is composed of 70 pieces grown over two years during/influenced by the artist’s Saturn Return which includes:
glow-in-the-dark mixed media cyanotypes, a solstice sun mask, perennial flowers grown over the years in the garden, a ten-paged memoir, one short story, four poems, five haikus, & a whole lot of mantras.
Garden as Body 22”x30” Mixed Media Cyanotype on rough watercolor paper created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, or foraged in walks in the woods and beach, words pulled from the stories and poems in this collection, and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter.
Garden as Body Memoir: 10 Pages
Garden As Body & Blue Garden Rose
Garden as Altar 9”x12” Mixed Media Cyanotype & poetry
Garden Altar
Blue Garden Rose Cyanotype rose mounted on 6”x5” wooden hexagon
Garden as Tarot: The Fool 9” x 12” (Tarot Series: 1/4) Mixed Media Cyanotype & Poetry on Watercolor Paper Created with Altar offerings and collections from the garden. The Fool is a Major Arcana in Tarot. It is the first (0) of the 22 Major Arcana cards, and signifies the beginning of a cyclical story which is known as The Fool’s Journey. The Fool excitedly starts their journey to enlightenment and expansion with an open heart, and an open mind full of innocence, perhaps naivety, but good intentions. The Fool is ready to dive head first into the journey, but does not know what to expect. The Fool could walk right off the ledge, or The Fool could be headed down a path of abundance. This risk does not phase The Fool, who holds a white rose of purity and innocence, a bindle on their shoulder, and basking in the divine power of the rising sun. The Fool makes a choice to gamble the risk of the journey in pursuit of a fresh start. The Fool is free to take a leap of faith, believe in the Universe, and welcome a new beginning.
The Fool’s Rose Large cyanotype rose mounted on 6"x5" wooden hexagon
Garden as Tarot: The Wheel of Fortune 9” x 12” (Tarot Series: 2/4) Mixed Media Cyanotype & Poetry on Watercolor Paper Created with Altar offerings and collections from the garden. The Wheel of Fortune is a Major Arcana in Tarot. It is the 10th card of the 22 Major Arcana cards, and signifies the point in The Fool’s Journey where The Fool recognizes that everything in life is subject to change. The Wheel of Fortune is a cycle that is ever-turning, filled with moments both good and bad, that The Fool accepts that they have no control over this truth. The Fool learns to surrender to this cyclical change, bask in the good times and not take them for granted, and have faith that the bad times shall pass, trusting The Universe will bring balance to each choice. The Fool recognizes that they can not control the cycle, but The Fool can control their own choices, which is when they discover Justice, the next Major Arcana card, that signifies a karmic balance of consequence for the choices The Fool makes. The Fool chooses to plant blue in the garden.
Wheel of Fortune 12”x18” Mixed Media Cyanotype & Poetry on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden, and glow-in-the-dark thread
Share the fruit: Garden as Community Building, a call for donations
Garden as Community 12”x18” Mixed Media Cyanotype & Poetry on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden, turmeric, crow feathers, and gold thread
Soft Duality 5”x7” Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with botanical collections grown from the artist’s garden, and printed in sunlight in the garden.
Garden as Community Poetry
An Offering 5”x7” Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with botanical collections grown from the artist’s garden, a crow feather, a shiny ring, and printed in sunlight in the garden.
Magic Herbs 5”x7” Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with some magic herbs grown in the artist’s garden, and printed in sunlight in the garden. Where would we be without a little herb magic? How do you think the soup tastes this good?
Planting Blue in the Garden 11”x15” Mixed Media Cyanotype & Poetry on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden, and gold thread
Thank you, Magic Sage 5”x7” Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with a special offering of a cutting from “The Magic Sage” from a good friend’s mother, which was planted and nurtured in the artist’s garden in the summer of 2024. The lore whispers that the Magic Sage was planted in the 70’s by a group of lesbians at a women’s DV shelter, and has a little charm to it. We say thank you, Magic Sage.
We know these stars like song 11”x15” Mixed Media Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, words pulled from the stories and poems in this collection, and glow-in-the-dark thread. Crafted after watching the total solar eclipse in Vermont in April 2024.
Remember to Remember 11”x15” Mixed Media Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, words pulled from the stories and poems in this collection, and glow-in-the-dark thread. Crafted after watching the total solar eclipse in Vermont in April 2024.
I like how we met in this timeline 11”x15” Mixed Media Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, words pulled from the stories and poems in this collection, and glow-in-the-dark thread. Crafted after watching the total solar eclipse in Vermont in April 2024.
Garden as Tarot: The Moon 9” x 12” (Tarot Series: 3/4) Mixed Media Cyanotype & Poetry on Watercolor Paper Created with Altar offerings and collections from the garden. The Moon is a Major Arcana in Tarot. It is the 18th card of the 22 Major Arcana cards, and signifies the point in The Fool’s Journey where they choose to face the shadows within, and lean into the darkness that harbors challenging feelings like fear, anxiety, grief that threatens to block the path forward. The Moon calls to The Fool, to tune into The Fool’s intuition to cut through the smoke and mirrors and see things for how they are. In order for The Fool to grow, they need to face the shadows of themself that threaten to hold them back, and reconcile that subconscious darkness.
Companion Plants (set of 3) 5"x7" mixed media cyanotype with mantra created with collections from the garden
First Date in October Poetry
An Ode To Garden Ants Short Story: 2 Pages
An Ode To Garden Ants Short Story: 2/2 Pages
I want to foster community like the ant colony 9”x12” in 11”x14” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, dried daisy flowers, writing, and glow-in-the-dark thread
Find Your Roost 5”x7” in 9”x9” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, locally foraged & dried botanicals, crow feathers, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Flower Power of Nine 5”x7” in 9”x9” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, locally foraged & dried botanicals, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Blue is the rarest pigment in Nature 9”x12” in 11”x14” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, dried daisy flowers, mantra writing, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Pollinator Altar 5”x7” in 9”x9” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, locally foraged & dried botanicals, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
There is opportunity in the fall 9”x12” in 11”x14” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, dried daisy flowers, mantra writing, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
The Moon Guides You Through 5”x7” in 9”x9” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, locally foraged & dried botanicals, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
How do you plant blue in your garden? 22”x30” Mixed Media Cyanotype on rough watercolor paper created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, or foraged in walks in the woods and beach, words pulled from the stories and poems in this collection, and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter.
Choose to Plant Blue in the Garden 5”x7” in 9”x9” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, locally foraged & dried botanicals, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Stay true to self and it will sort itself out 9”x12” in 11”x14” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, dried daisy flowers, mantra writing, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Saturn Returning 5”x7” in 9”x9” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, locally foraged & dried botanicals, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Saturn will find you planting blue in the garden 9”x12” in 11”x14” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, dried daisy flowers, mantra writing, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Flower Power of Thirteen 5”x7” in 9”x9” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, locally foraged & dried botanicals, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
In the garden it feels like God is everywhere 9”x12” in 11”x14” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, dried daisy flowers, writing, and glow-in-the-dark thread
Plant the Perennials Anyway 5”x7” in 9”x9” shadow box Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, locally foraged & dried botanicals, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Totality in Vermont 11”x15” Mixed Media Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Yule/Winter Solstice Moon 6 / 13 Blue Moon Series: The Wheel of the Year 4”x4” (4” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter Garden as Body 2025 Yule, The Winter Solstice, is the shortest, darkest day of the year, but celebrates the return of the light, as the light of the sun is reborn. The days start to get longer and brighter from here. It’s a period preserved for reflection, leaning into the darkness, and channeling hope and setting intentions for the lighter days to come.
Imbolc Moon 7 / 13 Blue Moon Series: The Wheel of the Year 4”x4” (4” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter Garden as Body 2025 Imbolc is the halfway point between Yule/Winter Solstice & Ostara/Vernal Equinox. It honors Brigid, the goddess of poetry, healing, and fertility, and signals purification. This is a time to gather with community and share your creativity with intimate intention.
Ostara/Vernal Equinox Moon 8 / 13 Blue Moon Series: The Wheel of the Year 4”x4” (4” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter Garden as Body 2025 Ostara is the vernal equinox. It is when the hours of day and night are balanced. Ostara celebrates growth. This is when the soil is rich and ready to receive those intentions you planted in the form of seeds. It’s time for a new beginning. It’s time to grow.
Beltane Moon 9 / 13 Blue Moon Series: The Wheel of the Year 4”x4” (4” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter Garden as Body 2025 Beltane is the midway point between the Ostara / Vernal Equinox and Litha/summer solstice. This is a period of fertility and abundance. It is time to nurture the seedlings that have sprouted.
Litha / Summer Solstice 10 / 13 Blue Moon Series: The Wheel of the Year 4”x4” (4” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter Garden as Body 2025 Litha is the Summer Solstice, the longest and brightest day of the year. This is a fiery celebration of abundance, joy, and light. The intentions conjured during Yule/winter solstice, brought to life through word and song on Imbolc, planted during Ostara, nurtured during Beltane, have now sprouted and bloomed. The hard work has paid off, and this is a time to celebrate that, let the fire burn, and celebrate with gratitude.
Lughnasadh / Lammas Moon 11 / 13 Blue Moon Series: The Wheel of the Year 4”x4” (4” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter Garden as Body 2025 Lughnasadh or Lammas is the midway point between Litha / Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox. This signals the beginning of the harvest season as the sun’s light starts to wane, and is a time best spent baking bread, cooking a big meal with your harvest, and sharing it with community, and feeling gratitude for all that you have grown, nurtured, and now get to enjoy and share the fruit.
Mabon / Autumnal Equinox Moon 12 / 13 Blue Moon Series: The Wheel of the Year 4”x4” (4” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter Garden as Body 2025 Mabon is the Autumnal Equinox, where the hours of day and night are balanced. This is another celebration of the harvest, where fruit is still abundant and the basket remains full. It is another opportunity to share the fruit with the community, but this time in preparation for the darker, colder season and self reflection to come.
Samhain Moon 13 / 13 Blue Moon Series: The Wheel of the Year 4”x4” (4” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter Garden as Body 2025 Samhain, or better known as Halloween, is the midway point between Mabon / Autumnal Equinox and Yule / Winter Solstice. This is Summer’s End and when we are plunged into darkness, and the veil is thin. This is a time for fire, protection, dressing up, and honoring those who have passed.
The Wheel of the Year Series (8/13 Blue Moon Series)
Garden as Tarot: The Sun 9” x 12” (Tarot Series: 4/4) Mixed Media Cyanotype & Poetry on Watercolor Paper Created with Altar offerings and collections from the garden. The Sun is a Major Arcana in Tarot. It is the 19th card of the 22 Major Arcana cards, and signifies the point in The Fool’s Journey where they trust their intuition, reconcile their subconscious darkness, and grow to the point where the darkness fades and the inner light expands to the radiant, divine glow of The Sun. The Sun represents abundance, joy, good fortune, success, and affirmation that The Fool is on the right path, their personal growth is in full bloom, shining bright, pruning their ego to make room for new growth, and The Universe agrees.
Garden Notes 5”x7” (Book - 8 Pages) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with foraged Autumn leaves and Marigold flowers stained onto paper, cyanotype using botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, and notes on gardening, lessons learned through choices, mistakes, and successes.
Garden Notes 5”x7” (Book - 8 Pages) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Toned Watercolor Paper Created with foraged Autumn leaves and Marigold flowers stained onto paper, cyanotype using botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, and notes on gardening, lessons learned through choices, mistakes, and successes. & Perennial Flowers from 2024 garden
Garden as Body Memoir: Page 7/10 (sneak peak)
A special offering after installing this show
Solstice Mask Collaboration with Jared Manzola Owner of Hungry Moon Mask Shop A solstice mask crafted for the winter solstice 2024
Plant the Perennials Anyway: Perennial Seed Offering
Dried Perennial flowers from 2023 Garden
Saturn Returns to Find You, as Garden. 22”x30” Mixed Media Cyanotype on rough watercolor paper created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, or foraged in walks in the woods and beach, words pulled from the stories and poems in this collection, and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter.
Perennial Moon 1 / 13 Blue Moon Series 8”x10” (10” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter
Root Moon 2 / 13 Blue Moon Series 8”x10” (10” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter
First Bloom Moon 3 / 13 Blue Moon Series 8”x10” (10” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter
Dreaming of Crows on a Super Blue Moon 4 / 13 Blue Moon Series 8”x10” (10” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden, crow feathers, and glow-in-the-dark thread Printed in sunlight in the garden on the day of the August Super Blue Moon in 2024 Garden as Body 2025 Awarded Honorable Mention in Bristol Art Museums’s Knock on Wood exhibition (Sep 2024) First published in Wildscapelit Issue 1 (Jan 2024)
Two Pisces on a Date Under the October Full Moon 5 / 13 Blue Moon Series 8”x10” (10” diameter) Mixed Media Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper Crafted with collections from the garden and glow-in-the-dark thread & glitter
Meteors & Murders 11”x15” Mixed Media Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Planetary Alignment 11”x15” Mixed Media Cyanotype on watercolor paper created with botanicals grown in the artist’s garden, and glow-in-the-dark thread.
Garden as Body Memoir: 10 Pages
Garden as Body memoir Page 10/10
Garden as Body Memoir: 10 pages