MASTER peace

Gallery owner Michael Reid has created his own living paradise, a rambling garden he keenly shares with fellow art lovers who visit the Murrurundi, NSW, gallery location.

- Chris Pearson

Gallery owner Michael Reid has presented his own living artwork, crafted in shades of green with drifts of colour, in this lush garden at Murrurundi in the Upper Hunter, NSW. But it’s not simply for show – this hardworking garden really rolls up its sleeves.

“I understand, to my bones, how the English word for paradise derives from the Persian word for a walled garden,” says Michael. “A garden is an earthly delight, an Eden.” As that implies, it’s largely left to its own fertile devices, with nothing too manicured.

“My horticultural go-to word is ‘drowsy’. Not informal or unkempt, but also not overly clipped or ruthlessly symmetrical,” he says. “I lean toward a soft, well-watered, relaxed garden. One that slowly wakes with a walk-through reveal.”

Here he has established a gallery, concept store and eatery, all interwoven with an inspirational garden. “The purpose of this creative space is to entice our audience to slow down, enjoy the garden, eat and drink well, and view and acquire significant art,” he says. “The garden is both an aesthetic and commercial drawcard. Within beauty, one can absorb what’s on offer.”

And the garden, luxuriating within two and a half hectares, reflects that emphasis. “I did not want a cottage-style garden, but rather a parkland experience,” he says. “These are industrial, working gardens, with lemon and lime orchards and a massive veggie garden. It’s a gentle park-like garden, with a sense of space and oxygen, and not over-filled.”