Jo Thompson
Jo has designed Thrive's contemporary garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2010 around the theme of the 'Unexpected gardener'. Jo's therapeutic 'Demelza' garden, designed for a children's hospice in Kent, won a silver-gilt medal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2009
After a 10 year career in teaching Jo Thompson started her second career in garden design in 2005 with early recognition of her unique planting design skills acknowledged by the
Garden Design Journal and
The Independent.
Jo designs a wide range of gardens from tiny rooftop spaces to residential gardens such as the design and replanting of 60 metre long twin herbaceous borders, which holds the fabulous specimen of Magnolia Betty Jessel at Ladham House in Kent which opens to the public each May. She also works closely with Merriments Gardens in East Sussex, and her new Jewelled Garden and Secret Garden are now open to the public for the first time.
Jo was impressed by Thrive's work when she visited the Thrive Trunkwell Garden Project, near Reading, Berkshire: "The work taking place at Thrive is a time-proven practice: the therapeutic benefits of gardening have been understood since ancient times, I know, but my first visit to Trunkwell made a lasting impression on me: a barrier-free garden providing a space in which people with a wide range of abilities can work, learn, and relax."
Gareth Neal
Thrive is delighted that sought-after furniture designer Gareth Neal is giving his time to design the garden's water feature and console table.
Gareth's specialist one-off designs have been in constant demand since he graduated with a BA Hons in 'Furniture Design and Craftsmanship’ from Buckinghamshire University.
His work has featured in numerous publications and is exhibited around the world from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, to Sotheby’s in New York.
Jo Angell - Textile Futures Designer
I am delighted to join Jo Thomson this summer in the Thrive Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show where my canopy installation will compliment the colours & forms in the stunning design she is creating for the charity.
Jo tracked me down through the Central Saints Martins alumni after I had completed an MA in Textile Futures in 2008, where I developed the canopy concept as my final project. After a decade of running my own Graphic Design consultancy it is a joy to now be working with my passion for innovative textile design in interior & exterior spaces.
I am inspired by nature and patterns and a recurrent theme in my work is to explore the effects of light through laser cutting and layering materials to create a 'living’ sensory experience.
The Thrive installation will be a bespoke for the space; working in harmony with the other materials used in the garden and will float in a sculptural and poetic way creating retreats of dappled light. I would like people to feel a subliminal link to nature, my original inspiration, and a feeling of wellbeing when finding themselves underneath the canopy.
More technical information on the canopy’s design/manufacture & how to commission projects can be found on my website along with press coverage of selected work.
www.JoAngell.com
Andrew Fisher Tomlin
Andrew is Founding Director of garden design company Fisher Tomlin, a company that helps clients create their dream garden. The company has won numerous New Homes Gardens Awards including Garden Designer of the Year and nine awards including four Gold Medals in 2006, 2007 & 2008. They are also Chelsea Flower Show winners with a Royal Horticultural Society Medal in 1996.
Andrew says that the connections in his gardens between the plants, nature and the garden’s owners is an essential part of his design ethos. He studied horticulture and garden design at Askham Bryan College and the University of Leeds. He is also a Director of the London College of Garden Design, RHS judge, a Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers and a much valued trustee of Thrive.