The Garden

Those familiar with ATAK’s pictures will have known it was only a question of time before this: his own portrait of a garden. Those not yet acquainted with his work will feast their eyes on this book and want their own garden … and all his other books. Every one of those books, every picture ATAK paints, has already hinted at this garden: the flowers, the trees, the animals. Here’s the swing, the blossom, the cherries, the washing flapping in the breeze. And when the wind blows home again, something returns: calm and stillness.
“The garden breathes time and time breathes as a garden. I go into the garden in the evening to breathe. I touch the new blossom as I would stroke my dog. Caress what is yours, touch these, your friends and observe the changes. Caress, touch, observe: those are the tasks of the true lover of gardens.”
And now you don’t even need a garden of your own, just this book with its pure, exuberant joy in nature. A garden to savour.