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Hamish Mackie exhibits at RHS Chelsea Flower Show September 2021 October 1, 2021

It was fantastic to finally get back to Chelsea in September after all the cancellations and delays caused by Covid. It is always a ‘team’ event for Hamish Mackie Sculptures, but on the first day of Chelsea, my youngest daughter tested positive with Covid! My wife Laura had to dash back to Oxfordshire to man the fort.

I am hugely grateful to friends, Chris and Hughie, who came to the rescue and jumped in to take her place. My other daughter Maltida also joined the team with seven hours notice and a crash course in the ins an outs of bronze casting! Thanks all – it was great to have such enthusiastic new members of the team.

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I felt the stand was the possibly the best one we have done yet. It looked so striking in my signature colours. The woodwork was painted in dark grey and the backboards were picked out in red – the perfect foil for my sculptures.

Thank you to Bowles and Wyer for the great design and build, and of course to Knight Frank for their generous sponsorship. We were, once again, given the highest top trade stand award of five stars!

The new sculptures gained a lot of attention, particularly the life size Lion and Lioness. They looked amazing standing to the side of the stand and really drew people in.

I was also pleased to see how much people liked the new octopus sculptures. It’s not every day that you ask a stranger if you can photograph your octopus on her shoulder! But the woman had such a cool tattoo and my titanium octopus was just the right size, so it had to be done.

One of my bronze octopus sculptures found a new home on a yacht thanks to a designer who spotted it and thought it would be perfect for the interior.  I like to think of it bobbing around on the high seas somewhere!

And my turtles are going to a development in the Caribbean, which seems like exactly the right home for them.

I always enjoy catching up with fellow artists, old friends and collectors at Chelsea. You have been so wonderfully supportive this year, thank you! It’s lovely to meet new faces too, and it’s always fun to indulge in a bit of people spotting at Chelsea. It was fantastic to meet the Olympic sprinter Linford Christie, who was kind enough to let me have a photo taken with him!

Being a little later in the year from the usual event in May, the world-famous show had a different feel to it in September. There were less show gardens than usual, but they brought a new seasonal interest in their designs and planting. The exhibits inevitably had an autumnal flavour, displaying fruiting trees, pumpkins and vegetables, grasses and seed heads. Dahlias, gladioli and salvias in full bloom brought late season colour.

My favourite was Sarah Eberle’s Psalm 23 garden, which received a gold award and best construction award in the Sanctuary Garden Category. I would have loved to have picked this up and taken it home. Sarah grew up in Devon and drew on the landscape of Dartmoor for her winning design. Her garden was very natural with lots of rocky terrain  inspired by Dartmoor’s tors, and water features inspired by the moor’s streams and rivers. Dartmoor was an important part of my childhood too, so Sarah’s garden struck a real chord with me.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show is always a fun and exhausting week, burning the candle at both ends. It was pretty busy as always, which felt a bit strange after so long not seeing anyone! The weather was absolutely amazing, with not a drop of rain all week and much warmer than it sometimes can be in May. It put everyone in the best spirits and there was a real buzz in the air.

I really enjoyed the first autumn Chelsea Flower Show and fingers crossed, it won’t be long until we are back in May of 2022!

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18 May, 2020

Virtual RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2020

I normally love this time of year but I do feel like something is missing. We should be at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2020 this week! It would have been my eleventh year exhibiting at the show.

24 May, 2019

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019

It has been a sterling year at the RHS Chelsea Flower show! We received 5 stars for our exhibition stand. Bowles and Wyer worked tirelessly designing and building the stand.

26 Apr, 2019

Hamish Mackie Sculptures at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019

We are busy getting ready for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019.

Sculpture Collection

Hamish has a substantial range of sculptures for sale. All of which are listed on this website. If you see something you like that is labelled as sold, feel free to get in touch with Hamish directly to discuss a private commision.

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