Linda Combi’s 52 Postcards show on theme of displacement and migration opens at Pyramid Gallery in York on Saturday

To A Place Of Greater Safety, one of Linda Combi’s cards from her 52 Postcards exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, York

YORK artist and illustrator Linda Combi opens her new show, 52 Postcards, at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, on Saturday at 11am.

On show will be original framed collage paintings, print cards and booklets of all 52 paintings created by Californian-born Linda during 2023 around the theme of displacement.

Fifty per cent of sale proceeds in this charity project will be donated to UNHRC ([the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees agency mandated to aid and protect refugees) and the Lemon Tree Trust, an organisation that works alongside displaced people to transform refugee camps through gardening.

“Everyone who supports refugees has that one moment that they can remember vividly – the moment when they realise that they can do something to improve the life of someone they have never met,” says Linda.

Her moment? “In 2016, I saw a news story on Channel 4 which was so emotionally charged that it changed my artwork,” says Linda. The subject of The Last Gardener Of Aleppo was Abu Waad, a Syrian gardener who ran a nursery in the heart of the besieged city of Aleppo, amid the daily bombs and missiles.

“He managed to grow and cultivate vibrant flowers, vegetables and other plants to sell to the locals, who badly needed growth and beauty in their lives, and was helped in the nursery by his then 13-year-old son Ibrahim,” says Linda.

“They had an incredible relationship, and he spoke so beautifully about plants:  their beauty and resilience and the importance of them in our lives – stating that ‘the essence of the world is the flower’.”

Many of Linda Combi’s postcards depict birds as a symbol for people forced to flee

The story ended tragically: Abu Waad – whose name means ‘Father of the Flowers’ – was killed when a barrel bomb landed next to his plant nursery, the last frame depicting a desolate Ibrahim at his father’s grave.

“Abu Waad’s story touched me deeply – as it did for so many others,” says Linda, who responded to his words in her artwork, exhibiting original paintings, prints and greetings cards to aid the two charities in her The Last Gardener Of Aleppo exhibitions at Angel on The Green, in Bishopthorpe Road, in 2020 and Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, in 2021.

“This was my starting point, but ever since 2016, I’ve continued to do work on the subjects of gardens and the natural world, aligning the images with the experiences of migrants and refugees’ lives, exploring beauty, safety, security, peace and – above all – hope.”

Now comes her latest project, 52 Postcards, inspired by her reflections on displacement.  “It’s a project related to the ‘Gardener’ work,” says Linda. “I’ve chosen the postcard format because they symbolise travellers on holiday touching base with family and friends back home.

“But for refugees, they can have very different connotations. It’s grounded in the concept of refugees being in another place, writing a letter to home or to their former self. My postcards are poignant ‘messages’ about displacement, longing, fear and finding home.”

She chose the theme of “oasis” to capture the desire for security, growth, and beauty. “This theme embodied Abu Waad’s story,” says Linda. “Despite the great danger and destruction all around, just like Abu Waad, refugees too can have their own oasis or sanctuary.

“The other aspect is that my happiest childhood memories are from my time in a date palm oasis in the desert of California, so there is a direct connection to my once home too.”

The poster artwork for Linda Combi’s 52 Postcards exhibition at Pyramid Gallery

Originally, Linda planned to make 50 postcards, but she then realised that most of the designs depicted plants and seasons, and 52 cards could reflect the calendar year.

Many of her postcards depict birds as a symbol for people forced to flee. “They’re innocent, and they’re on the move, both fragile and, in the case of migratory birds, very resilient,” says Linda. “I’ve often used postage stamps for making birds, butterflies, moths and flowers in order to express the transitory nature of their lives.

“My favourite postcards feature the birds, including A Place Of Greater Safety, which features a magic carpet and is grounded in the idea of a dream where you can escape danger and uncertainty, with the magic carpet taking you away to a new peaceful security.”

Linda’s images are inspired by news stories, films, music and books, as well as her own significant experiences. “My grandparents left Sicily for a ‘better’ life in America; a courageous journey into uncertainty,” she says. “I’ve seen ‘The Fence’, which divides Mexico and California, and spoken with border guards there. I also spent time in Israel, where I experienced a divided society at close range.

“As climate change is integral to the migration story, I’ve touched upon weather and changing environments. And, of course, war is at the heart of too many of the images.”

Linda’s postcards are mixed media, primarily hand-painted collage papers but also incorporating coloured pencil, pen, stickers, crayon and printed ephemera. The printed cards measure 5” X 7” including a white border; the original images are also 5” X 7” and are consequently larger, and each will be framed using colours appropriate to each design.

“Refugees and other displaced people have to endure so much,” says Linda. “Everyone should support refugees – not only do they enrich society, but more than anything, it’s just basic kindness and human empathy to understand how frightening it must be to be to have to flee.”

Linda Combi: the back story

Linda Combi at work in her York studio

BORN in San Francisco, California, Linda was drawn to Europe in a quest for art and romance. Lives in York.

Has worked as an illustrator for many years, being asked to produce work on many subjects, including her adopted county of Yorkshire.

Her humorous illustrations have appeared in the Observer Magazine, The Times, Independent On Sunday, Tatler and Sainsbury’s Magazine, as well as in illustration exhibitions.

Continues to exhibit work in a range of media, from graphic collages to 3D assemblages.

Regards laughter as an essential ingredient for survival in today’s world, believing that humour can burst pomposity and undermine prejudice. This has led gentle mockery and angry satire appearing in her work, such as The Brits series, exploring traditions and eccentricities she has observed, from the love of gardening, cricket and pantomime to pub crawls and dog walking.

Since returned to more personal projects, taking time to experiment with materials and imagery.

Participated in four York Open Studios events; exhibited at Pyramid Gallery, Angel on the Green and Blossom Street Gallery in York, Zillah Bell Gallery in Thirsk and Pocklington Arts Centre.

One of Linda Combi’s 52 Postcards at Pyramid Gallery

Took part in Fetes du Graphisme in Paris and York Design Festival in 2020.

New works are being added yearly to ongoing charity project The Last Gardener of Aleppo, inspired by Channel 4 news story from 2016. Proceeds of sales have been donated to the Lemon Tree Trust and UNHCR.

Worked with York’s Good Organisation, designing T-shirts on the theme of homelessness and with Refugee Action York for teaching materials. Helping charities through her work has become increasingly important to Linda.

Art inspiration comes from people-watching, ethnic art, music, travels, news stories, children’s art and literature.

When not making artwork, Linda enjoys cinema, reading, watching cricket and tennis, swimming, travelling and playing the ukulele “quite badly”.

Linda Combi’s 52 Postcards exhibition runs at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, January 27 to March 9; opening hours, Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturdays, 10am to 5.30pm. The project can be viewed at Linda’s website, lindacombi.biz, from where purchases can be made too.

More Things To Do in and around York as 145 artists and makers open studio doors. List No. 40, courtesy Of The Press, York

Minster, by textile artist Carol Coleman, who is taking part in York Open Studios at 1 Carlton Cottages, Wigginton

AHEAD of Monday’s already trailered Step 4 pronouncement, Charles Hutchinson unmasks events aplenty, from Open Studios to heavy metal heaven, theatre comedy to theatre tragi-comedy, musical celebrations to  a triple exhibition.

Big art event of the next two weekends: York Open Studios 2021, preview night tomorrow, 6pm to 9pm; July 10/11 and 17/18, 10am to 5pm

AFTER the Covid-enforced fallow year of 2020, York Open Studios returns this weekend for its 20th parade of the city’s creative talent.

The event sees 145 artists and makers open 95 studios, homes and workplaces, and among them will be 43 debutants, with full details at yorkopenstudios.co.uk.

York’s biggest annual art showcase spans ceramics, collages, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, furniture, sculpture and textiles.

Still feeling their Old Selves after lockdown easement: Yorkshire four-piece look overjoyed at the prospect of headlining tomorrow’s very heavy metal bill at The Fulford Arms

Hardcore gig of the week: Old Selves, Blight Town, Cast Out and Realms at The Fulford Arms, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm.

“WHAT at an absolute heavy metal treat,” enthuses Fulford Arms supremo Chris Sherrington, ahead of tomorrow’s headbanger fiesta, headlined by fiery Yorkshire four-piece Old Selves.

Playing loud too will be Nottingham progressive post-hardcore/math rock quintet Blight Town, York punk’n’roll/metalcore crossover band Cast Out and Yorkshire post-hardcore act Realms, who “make music for people who never grew out of their emo phase”. Tickets: thefulfordarms.bigcartel.com/ or on the door.

Lead actors Sandy Foster and Tom Kanji in rehearsal for Laura Wade’s comedy of domestic bliss turned to blister, Home, I’m Darling. Picture: Ellie Kurttz

Make a trip to Scarborough for: Home, I’m Darling, Stephen Joseph Theatre, July 9 to August 14

SWEET peas in the garden; homemade lemon curd in the kitchen; marital bliss in the bedroom, Judy and Johnny seem to be the perfect couple. Sickeningly happy, in fact, in Laura Wade’s domestic comedy-drama. 

Is their marriage everything it seems, however? Are there cracks in their happiness? What happens when the 1950s’ family values they love so much stop working in the 21st century as the couple discovers that nostalgia ain’t what it used to be. 

Liz Stevenson directs this co-production between Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, Bolton’s Octagon Theatre and the SJT. Box office: thesjt.uk.com.

Back together in Beulah: Actor-musicians Jim Harbourne and Ed Wren reunite next week, having first performed the show for The Flanagan Collective in 2012

Theatre resurrection of the week ahead: The Flanagan Collective in Beulah, Summer At The Mill, Stillington, near York, July 14 to 16, 8pm to 10pm

AN island sets sail into the sunset; a boy watches a lion running out of the sky, and an old man is sleeping as Alexander Wright’s Beulah reawakens in Stillington.

Inspired by William Blake’s world of a “mild and pleasant rest”, Wright plays with  notions of reality, of the permeable times of day and liminal states of being, in a show woven with storytelling, puppetry and soaring live music, first staged at York Theatre Royal in the bygone summer of 2012.

Directed by Tom Bellerby, Beulah is performed by actor-musicians and composers Jim Harbourne and Ed Wren. Box office: atthemill.org.

Father Of The Flowers, by York artist Linda Combi, from her exhibition The Last Gardener Of Aleppo at Pyramid Gallery, York

Exhibition launch of the week times three: Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, Friday to September 5

ERUM Aamir, Debbie Loane and Linda Combi form the suitably triangular structure of Pyramid Gallery’s summer show. Not one, but three exhibitions will run in two upstairs rooms.

For Celestial Garden, Manchester ceramic artist Erum Aamir has made intricate porcelain sculptures that fuse her scientific research and artistic imaginations, complemented in the front room by seascape and landscape paintings by Easingwold artist Debbie Loane under the title of The Peace Of Wild Places.

York artist Linda Combi presents The Last Gardener Of Aleppo, a series of original collages and mixed-media artworks and giclee prints that form a moving tribute to Abu Waad in aid of The Lemon Tree Trust and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees agency.

Not having a ball: Luke Dickson as doomed Leeds United manager Brian Clough in The Damned United at York Theatre Royal

Second time lucky: The Damned United, Red Ladder Theatre Company, York Theatre Royal, July 15, kick-off 7.30pm

THE Damned Pandemic curse struck again when June 16’s performance of The Damned United was postponed after one of the actors had an inconclusive lateral flow test. Tickets remain valid for the post-Euro 2020 new date.

Anders Lustgarten’s darkly humorous adaptation of David Peace’s book about Brian Clough’s 44 days in purgatory as Leeds United’s manager is built around the double act of tortured genius Clough (Luke Dickson) and father figure/assistant Peter Taylor (David Chafer).

The beauty and brutality of football, the working man’s ballet, bursts out of a story of sweat and booze, fury and power battles. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

No, that’s not England manager Gareth Southgate, second from left, front row, in Black Sheep Theatre’s line-up

Raise the roof booster:  Black Sheep Theatre, For The Love Of Musicals, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 24, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

MUSICAL director Matthew Clare and his merry band, plus a heap of York singers, present a concert programme packed with musical delights as they seek to prove that “There’s No Business Like Show Business”.

The song list for this Black Sheep Theatre fundraiser for the Joseph Rowntree York, spans Annie Get Your Gun, the classics and more recent shows, such as Dear Evan Hansen. Box office: josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Joshua Burnell: Live At Forty Five gig in August. Picture: Stewart Baxter

Intimate gig announcement of the week: Joshua Burnell, Live At Forty Five, Forty Five Vinyl Café, Micklegate, York, August 14, 7.30pm

JOSHUA Burnell, progressive York purveyor of folk-fused baroque’n’roll for the modern world, performs in a three-piece line-up, including Frances Sladen, at Forty Five Vinyl Café next month.

Expect a showcase for latest album Flowers Where The Horses Sleep and his new EP, Storm Cogs, featuring songs about a folk singer who went missing for 30 years (Shelagh McDonald), a storm-chasing flying machine and a childhood memory, “written and recorded in lockdown and released as the world recovers”.

Elsie Franklin supports. Tickets are on sale at fortyfiveuk.com/events/joshua-burnell-live-at-fortyfive.

Pyramid Gallery to launch three exhibitions at once by Emur Aamir, Debbie Loane and Linda Combi in triple celebration of nature

Father Of The Flowers, York artist Linda Combi’s memorial tribute to Abu Waad, The Last Gardener Of Aleppo

ERUM Aamir, Debbie Loane and Linda Combi form the suitably triangular structure of Pyramid Gallery’s summer show in York.

Not one, but three exhibitions will run in two rooms at the Stonegate gallery from Friday (9/7/2021) to September 5.

For Celestial Garden, Manchester ceramic artist Erum Aamir has made intricate porcelain sculptures that fuse her scientific research and artistic imaginations.

“Nature is a source of inspiration for me,” says Manchester ceramic artist and scientific researcher Erum Aamir

Erum was awarded first place for excellence at the 2020 British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate by Pyramid proprietor Terry Brett, winning a solo show at Pyramid as the prize.

“I’m a ceramic artist and nature is a source of inspiration for me,” she says. “I enthuse by the details in depth, therefore I explore through the eye of a microscope. Sometimes the compositions found in the microscopic study and my imagination’s interpretation bypasses what is found in nature.

“This blurred line between reality and created reality intrigues my practice. If only for a moment, one might lose oneself in the curiosity of the composition, perhaps creating a personal narrative with the piece.

Pyramid Gallery’s poster for Erum Aamir’s exhibition, Celestial Garden

“This process of creation and exploration forms a shared experience between us. In my work, there’s always a repetition of single or more than one element which mimics the process of growth by repetition. I like this repetitive action – it’s not a thoughtless activity but is meditative.

“Moreover, the repetitive nature of bringing together many components creates a rhythm and facilitates an active trance of intention.”

Seascape and landscape paintings in assorted sizes by Easingwold artist Debbie Loane will complement Erum’s intricate sculptures in Pyramid’s upstairs front room under the title of The Peace Of Wild Places.

Easingwold artist Debbie Loane at work on the North York Moors

“As a painter, I’ve always sought out wild expanses, the vast open moorlands of the North York Moors or dramatic coastlines of the North for artistic inspiration,” says Debbie, who works from a farm home and studio in Alne Lane, just outside the market town of Easingwold.

“Over the past 18 months, when all our freedoms have been restricted, like so many I found myself seeking solace in the wild places I could find on my doorstep: a morning coffee taken on the doorstep in the morning sun watching a spider methodically weaving its web between a plant pot full of neglect and a wellie boot.

“The spider was completely at one with its environment knowing at once in that moment what it was supposed to be doing. How that spider taught me a lesson!”

Pyramid Gallery’s poster for Debbie Loane’s exhibition, The Peace Of Wild Places. Ignore the closing date: it WILL be September 5, not September 3!

During the past lockdown when home-schooling and simply staying afloat financially became Debbie’s priorities, her creative endeavours shifted to focus on wider things. Such as? “Tree planting 1,400 new native trees on our land; sowing seeds; teaching myself new things to do with my hands, like crochet (maddeningly); making paints with natural materials and running for many miles through the landscape, both around my home and on my beloved North York Moors,” she says.

“Consequently, my relationship with nature has deepened, as has my understanding of why I paint and what I’m painting. That spider has taught me to trust my creative instincts, to pause when I need to, to explore when it is calling. Most importantly of all, I have discovered the landscapes and wildness that I need are as much within me as out there.”

In 2005, Debbie established Lund Gallery in converted farm buildings next to her studio. “To give me time to concentrate on my own practice, the gallery no longer has regular opening hours; it opens for pop-up exhibitions and events,” she says. To keep up with her gallery news, sign up to her mailing list via mailchi.mp/648cd8024ee3/debbieloane.

Linda Combi in her York studio

York artist Linda Combi will complete the trio of exhibitions with The Last Gardener Of Aleppo , a series of original collages and mixed-media artworks and giclee prints that form a moving tribute to Abu Waad in a charitable show in aid of The Lemon Tree Trust and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

In 2016 Krishnan Guru-Murthy presented a Channel 4 News story about “The Last Gardener of Aleppo” that introduced viewers to Abu Waad, whose name means “The Father of the Flowers”.

“This genial Syrian ran the last garden centre in the besieged city of Aleppo, assisted by his 13-year-old son Ibrahim,” says Linda, who first exhibited these works in a Covid-curtailed run at the Angel On The Green, Bishopthorpe Road. “Abu Waad told us of his love of flowers and plants; about how their fragrance, beauty, and resilience were life affirming and joyful.

Linda Combi’s poster for The Last Gardener Of Aleppo fund-raising exhibition for The Lemon Tree Trust and the UNHCR

“We watched his large hands gently planting seedlings, pruning trees and making bouquets of roses for his customers. Despite the on-going bombardment, the growth and renewal within Abu Waad’s garden made it a ‘small oasis of colour and life’ amid the death and destruction.”

The Channel 4 film portrayed the bond between Ibrahim and Abu Waad as they worked together in the garden centre. “We see the father stretched out on an old settee during a tea break laughing with his son; a picture of relaxed contentment. But one can also detect fear and stress in the eyes of both of them,” says Linda.

The story closed with the death of Abu Waad, killed by a barrel bomb that landed near the garden centre. “His oasis is now closed, and Ibrahim is left without a father, lost and tearful as he visits his father’s grave,” says Linda.

“It is a devastating end, and so it felt important to me to celebrate Abu Waad and Ibrahim and their work in the oasis they created. I’ve illustrated the words of Abu Waad, which so perfectly describe the joy that plants and flowers can bring to us all.

Blue Flower, from Linda Combi’s series of collages, mixed-media artworks and giclee prints

“However, hope returned earlier this year when I was contacted with news that Abu Waad’s son, Ibrahim, had been found and is living with his sister and an uncle in Syria.”

Ibrahim hopes to continue his father’s work as a gardener. “So far we’ve helped him buy a solar energy system,” says Linda. “The Lemon Tree Trust is aiming to help Ibrahim with seeds and equipment for his life as a gardener. My piece, Ibrahim’s Hope was made after receiving this good news.”

A percentage of proceeds from picture and card sales will be divided between the UNHCR [the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees agency mandated to aid and protect refugees] and the Lemon Tree Trust charity that helps refugees create gardens in migrant camps.

Pyramid Gallery’s opening hours are: Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturdays, 10am to 5.30pm; Sundays, 12.30pm to 4.30pm, but please check by texting Terry Brett on 07805 029254 to check a specific Sunday opening.

Linda Combi’s garden exhibition finds the power in flowers in the face of war

Artist Linda Combi at work in her York studio

YORK artist Linda Combi was so struck by a Channel 4 News story on The Last Gardener Of Aleppo that she has responded with an exhibition of the same title.

“This work is a new departure for me and it’s taken some time to complete, but at last it’s nearly ready,” she says.

Linda’s artwork will be on show from February 25 to April 6 at The Angel on the Green café bar – “where the footfall is huge,” she says – in Bishopthorpe Road, York.

“The news story featured Abu Waad, who ran a garden centre in the besieged city Syrian city of Aleppo, assisted by his 12-year-old son Ibrahim,” she recalls.

“Throughout the film, Abu Waad – his name means ‘Father of the Flowers’ – described his love and admiration for flowers and plants. This last remaining garden centre was an oasis of calm and beauty for the citizens of Aleppo, who were experiencing death and destruction all around them.”

Not long after the film was made in 2016, Abu Waad was tragically killed by a bomb that fell nearby.

Father Of The Flowers, in memory of Abu Waad, The Last Gardener of Aleppo, by Linda Combi

“His garden centre was closed and his son Ibrahim was left fatherless.  I wanted to commemorate Abu Waad’s life and work through art and decided to hold an exhibition where 80 per cent of any proceeds from the exhibition and card sales would be divided between the charities UNHCR and The Lemon Tree Trust,” says Linda. 

“Because of the continuing horrors being endured by the Syrian people, it feels important to celebrate life and beauty at this time.”

Many of Linda’s pieces in the exhibition are illustrations inspired by the words of Abu Waad and based on Syrian carpet designs found in her research. All the work is mixed media, incorporating painted papers, drawing, and stencil.  

As well as work directly relating to the story of Abu Waad, further pieces take the theme of The Oasis in celebration of secure and beautiful places, such as gardens, set in harsh environments.

“The Lemon Tree Trust is involved in helping refugees create gardens in their strange new surroundings, and so I’ve included an artwork about the journeys made by refugees who often travel carrying seeds from home,” says Linda.

“Both the UNHCR and The Lemon Tree Trust have responded positively to this exhibition, offering materials for display and distribution. I’m grateful for the good work that they do.”

Linda’s The Last Gardener Of Aleppo will be launched on February 25 from 8.30pm.

Hazelnut, by Linda Combi

Here, Charles Hutchinson interviews Linda Combi ahead of The Last Gardener Of Aleppo opening.

What form did your research take, Linda?

“I watched the Channel 4 News story The Last Gardener Of Aleppo over and over again on YouTube, drawing Abu Waad and his son Ibrahim, and taking down the words of Abu Waad about his love of flowers and plants.

“I then found images of Syrian carpets on the net, but also visited the Islamic Room of the British Museum to draw from their decorative tiles.

“I needed images of drones, of bombers, and of destruction from bombing, sadly too often available on the news.

“Finally, I downloaded a map of Aleppo, which I then used for my collages.  York Central MP Rachael Maskell’s talk at a public meeting a few years ago, about how events in Syria have unfolded, was really informative, and I thank her for that.

If the pen is mightier than the sword, can art be mightier than the bomb (in the long run)? 

“I’ve been very inspired by the works of Banksy, particularly his public art on The Wall in Palestine, and his Bethlehem ‘Walled Off Hotel’.

Desert Flower, by Linda Combi

“Political cartoons are powerful instruments for highlighting hypocrisy and dictatorship.  Picasso’s Guernica is horribly relevant today.

“OK, these art forms haven’t stopped the bombing, but they have shone a light on the atrocities. As well as enriching our lives and reminding us of joy, art can be critical and informative and have the power to undermine those in power.  

“I’ve been hugely impressed by the creativity shown in the placards seen on the streets during protests during the past few years.” 

Poppies are so evocative of the First World War. Your art is embracing flower power too. What makes them such a potent symbol in the face of human atrocities?

“As a San Francisco hippie who discovered the joys of gardening on arriving in the UK, I do believe in flower power.

“Abu Waad’s flowers brought moments of joy to the citizens of Aleppo during the destruction of that city, and who saw death all around them. He believed that flowers could ‘nourish the soul’.

Despite Everything, by Linda Combi

“I’ve always been impressed by how flowers and their ’seasons’ are so important to the British. The arrival of snowdrops, then the daffodils, followed by bluebells and tulips: all herald the end of a long and dark winter. So, in an extreme situation like war, flowers bring a sense of the life force even more powerfully.”

What work do the charities UNHCR and The Lemon Tree Trust do?

“The UNHCR is the global United Nations Refugee Agency, which aims to save lives, protect rights and help refugees to work for a peaceful and productive future.

“They also help displaced communities and stateless people, and they believe everybody has the right to seek asylum from violence and persecution, war or disaster. “Their work is varied, involving education, providing shelter, protecting migrants at risk, and highlighting the desperate plight of migrants around the world.

“The Lemon Tree Trust believe that ‘gardening has the power to positively address issues of isolation and mental health’.

“They help to create community gardens in refugee camps by working with those refugees who are so very far from home.

The Flower Is The Essence Of The World, by Linda Combi

“The Refugee Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show was a moving example of how important this can be for refugees. One woman said, ‘We had so many flowers in Syria. This garden makes me happy’.”

What materials have the two charities offered for display and distribution?

“They’ve been very enthusiastic about the exhibition and have offered posters, leaflets, T-shirts and stickers, as well as publicising the exhibition on their social media.”

What are you working on next?

“The next project will be work with Refugee Action York on some teaching materials. I’d also love to do more T-shirt designs for the Good Organisation, who work with the homeless in York.

“As for personal work, I’ll be continuing the theme of migration, but this time the emphasis will be on borders.

“I’ve lived in San Diego for a time and have witnessed migrants being sent back over the border to Mexico after attempts trying to get into the USA.

“We walked along part of The Wall dividing Mexico and the USA and talked to border patrol officers there.

This Tree Will Live – Despite Everything, by Linda Combi

“My time in Israel also fed into my preoccupation with walls and divisiveness. My Sicilian ancestors came to the USA not knowing what the future held for them, but they were made welcome and did create a good life and a large family.

“I was welcomed to the UK many years ago, and so the issue of immigration has been central to my life.”

Will you be creating one of your humorous York calendars for 2021?

“It’s too late for a 2021 calendar but I’d love to create one for a charity.  

“As for the York calendars, I feel that though the tourist boom in York might have boosted the economy, luxury flats and new cafes and restaurants aren’t inspiring to draw!

“However, I can imagine being enticed by the prospect of a calendar that would celebrate quirky, lesser-known pubs hidden away in York.”

Linda Combi’s poster for her Angel on the Green exhibition

Linda Combi: The Last Gardener Of Aleppo exhibition, Angel on the Green, Bishopthorpe Road, York, February 25 to April 6.