This is Wendy's story but it's also the story of the countless people who cherish the Secret Garden.
For more than twenty years Wendy Whiteley has worked to create a public garden at the foot of her harborside home in Sydney's Lavender Bay. This is the extraordinary story of how a determined, passionate and deeply creative woman has slowly
transformed an overgrown wasteland into a beautiful sanctuary
for everyone to enjoy - and in the process, transformed herself.
Wendy Whiteley was Brett Whiteley's wife, muse and model. An artist herself, with a finely honed aesthetic sense, she also created the interiors at the heart of Brett's iconic paintings of their Lavender Bay home. When Brett died, followed by the death nine years later of their daughter Arkie, Wendy threw her grief and creativity into making
an enchanting hidden oasis out of derelict land
owned by the New South Wales Government.
This
glorious guerrilla garden is Wendy's living artwork
, designed with daubs of color, sinuous shapes and shafts of light.
'I've loved making this garden. It's been a great gift to my life. It let me find myself again, and it's my gift to share with the public.' Wendy Whiteley