The Roselyn Project
Where art, food, flowers, history, and a love of place and community gather on a Wheatbelt farm.
Roselyn is the home of visual artist Annie Kavanagh, her studio, and her flower garden set in nearly 200 acres of rolling farmland. From here, Annie creates her art and the stories of the flowers she grows.
From time to time, the Roselyn Project is host to events on the farm and elsewhere. To keep in touch with the latest, please sign up to her newsletter.
About the Artist
Annie was born in rural middle England, sandwiched between the industrial powerhouses of the Potteries to the north and the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Birmingham, to the south.
Now she lives on an organic farm in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia, the first inland area to be settled in the state. She works from her garden studio where she draws inspiration from the flowers she grows and the natural wider world on the farm.
Her art focuses on both visual florilegiums of the flowers in her garden presented as still life floral portraits and multilayered photographs in the style of the Dutch Masters with their symbolism, depictions of flowers, Vanitas themes, and chiascuro effect.
Both tell visual stories of the flowers and insects from her garden, inviting contemplation of the fragility of the Wheatbelt, the flora and fauna found there, and the impact of humans in their history.
Born in England and now resident in Western Australia (via Scotland, Holland, Borneo, the Middle East and Melbourne), Annie Kavanagh is a wife, mother of four, a one-time journalist, and an accidental farmer. Throughout all, photography and flowers and gardens have been constant companions. She is the architect of The Roselyn Project.
About the Farm
Twenty years ago we didn’t even know her name. Back then she went by Brookside Park; we christened her Spencers Brook Farm. In truth, we hadn’t been looking for a weekend bolthole on this scale.
Just a few acres, close to Perth, where we could keep a horse and two ponies we had somehow acquired. We were new to this country and this state and had little knowledge of the history of either. We were here for work and had every intention of returning to family and friends in the UK once it was finished. Then we bought a farm!
What followed is best described as ‘agricultural boot camp’ where an engineer and an artist with four small children in tow end up creating a paddock to plate food business. Not only did we breed and raise heritage cattle, sheep and pigs we set up our butchery and sold our products through weekly farmers' markets. Our sausages were very popular!
Eventually, years of no holidays and weekends plus full-time jobs and child-rearing took their toll. While it remains a working farm, the emphasis has shifted to art, storytelling, and events.
Nestled in the Avon Valley lies the once-grand estate of Roselyn. Built in 1887, the large house was surrounded by acres of gardens, orchards and vineyards with a shearing shed, carriage and horse stabling, governess’s houses, cook’s quarters, award-winning livestock, and, in its heyday, its own racecourse. In 2002, we bought all that was left: the house, shearing shed, and a small collection of outbuildings. The process of renewal, restoration, and renovation continue today.
