Strange Garden
project history
Strange Garden is a participatory workshop that engages your community or school in building a beautiful installation out of cardboard, representing an abstract garden.
Participants draw with black markers on flat, cardboard shapes that are specifically designed to fit together to form 3D organic shapes. These are added to a large cardboard ‘garden’ growing out of the space, larger, 'starter' organic shapes which are embellished by additions from participants. Students start building simple geometric shapes and progress through to more intricate ones with more pieces to assemble. By selecting the complexity of the shapes the workshop is made suitable for any age. This activity has been enjoyed by participants from age 4 to those in their 80s. It works particularly well in inter-generational groups with parents / grandparents and children working together to build their 'plants'.
Strange Garden grows into a beautiful community built installation that participants enjoy walking through, looking at, playing in and contributing to.
Feedback from Bayside participants
"Lots of fun / wonderful outcomes"
"Eliza was fantastic - great with kids of all ages"
"It was a great experience - different from anything I've ever done before :-) I loved it!!"
From a younger participant
"The making is probably the most AMAZING and BEST PART"
From a teacher at ArtPlay
“A fantastic session that kept the students thoroughly engaged. Thank you!!”
Strange Garden is a participatory workshop that engages your community or school in building a beautiful installation out of cardboard, representing an abstract garden.
Participants draw with black markers on flat, cardboard shapes that are specifically designed to fit together to form 3D organic shapes. These are added to a large cardboard ‘garden’ growing out of the space, larger, 'starter' organic shapes which are embellished by additions from participants. Students start building simple geometric shapes and progress through to more intricate ones with more pieces to assemble. By selecting the complexity of the shapes the workshop is made suitable for any age. This activity has been enjoyed by participants from age 4 to those in their 80s. It works particularly well in inter-generational groups with parents / grandparents and children working together to build their 'plants'.
Strange Garden grows into a beautiful community built installation that participants enjoy walking through, looking at, playing in and contributing to.
Feedback from Bayside participants
"Lots of fun / wonderful outcomes"
"Eliza was fantastic - great with kids of all ages"
"It was a great experience - different from anything I've ever done before :-) I loved it!!"
From a younger participant
"The making is probably the most AMAZING and BEST PART"
From a teacher at ArtPlay
“A fantastic session that kept the students thoroughly engaged. Thank you!!”

Strange Garden at Fun4Kids July 2016
Fun4Kids, Warrnamool Art Gallery, June 16
Wodonga Children's Art Fair
Regional Arts Victoria took on Strange Garden in 2015, 2016 and 2017 as part of their Education and Families Programme. Through them I was hired to design the project into a drop-in Festival interaction for Wodonga Council's Children's Art Fair, with around 5000 participants and 10000 visitors. Community feedback collated showed that Strange Garden was a stand out highlight.
Children and adults comments include:
'It looks like where Tinkerbell would live'
'I love the strange shapes'
'Visually appealing and creative'
'My favourite part was all the art and craft I could make'
'This unusual and creative activity meant that I could rest while my children created'
'I loved the opportunity to create with my child'
'Good to see an innovative arts project as part of children's fair. Keep it up.'
Children and adults comments include:
'It looks like where Tinkerbell would live'
'I love the strange shapes'
'Visually appealing and creative'
'My favourite part was all the art and craft I could make'
'This unusual and creative activity meant that I could rest while my children created'
'I loved the opportunity to create with my child'
'Good to see an innovative arts project as part of children's fair. Keep it up.'
Children's Art Adventure, Bendigo

Strange Garden was selected by schoolchildren in Bendigo to be the ’Children’s Art Adventure’ for 2014, and was exhibited in the beautiful Rosalind Park Conservatory. We had a huge number of visitors, and lots of them left a drawing inspired by the Garden that we exhibited on the windows. There were some lovely comments too:
“The best cardboard art EVER!!”
“I love the Strange Garden. I wish there was one everywhere.” Maddy
“ You have created a wonderful exhibit that inspired my children to use their imaginations – Thanks”
“So nice to see the children’s ideas and thinking outside the box” Stephanie from Melbourne
“What a great idea – never seen anything like this before.” L & K Williams
“Fabulously creative! Great to see this in Bendigo.”
“The best cardboard art EVER!!”
“I love the Strange Garden. I wish there was one everywhere.” Maddy
“ You have created a wonderful exhibit that inspired my children to use their imaginations – Thanks”
“So nice to see the children’s ideas and thinking outside the box” Stephanie from Melbourne
“What a great idea – never seen anything like this before.” L & K Williams
“Fabulously creative! Great to see this in Bendigo.”
Rosalind Park Conservatory, Bendigo Sept 2014
Wild Flower Grass Land, St Albans
Wild Flower Grass Land was a project initiated by Brimbank Council, inspired by the grassland ecosystems and biodiversity of the Western Region basalt plains.
I worked with students from St. Albans Primary School, St. Albans Heights Primary School, Rosamond Special School, and Furlong Park School for Deaf Children learning about the local flora and making native flowers and grasses. I loved the challenge of basing designs on actual plants, as usually in Strange Garden workshops we build imaginary plants. We also had a little venture into colour; quite a departure from my usual monochrome preference!
The plants were built into an installation that was shown in a marquee on the Errington reserve in St Albans for Brimbank’s Kids Day Out festival in October 2014 and went on to be exhibited at Sunshine Art Spaces.
I worked with students from St. Albans Primary School, St. Albans Heights Primary School, Rosamond Special School, and Furlong Park School for Deaf Children learning about the local flora and making native flowers and grasses. I loved the challenge of basing designs on actual plants, as usually in Strange Garden workshops we build imaginary plants. We also had a little venture into colour; quite a departure from my usual monochrome preference!
The plants were built into an installation that was shown in a marquee on the Errington reserve in St Albans for Brimbank’s Kids Day Out festival in October 2014 and went on to be exhibited at Sunshine Art Spaces.