A selling exhibition of paintings made during a six week residency at Benton End from March-April 2025, when Naomi set up in the first-floor studio at Benton End, painting in the house and gardens.

Naomi Munuo studied fashion at Central Saint Martins and loved drawing the figure, exploring colour and pattern. But when she had her first child, she stopped designing and started painting. It felt like a natural shift. She painted whenever she could, between teaching and raising three daughters. Her home became her subject. She painted still life, fabrics, corners of rooms, sculptures, and later people. Gradually, that became the heart of her practice.

Naomi says, “The residency at Benton End 2025 gave me a new place to look. I admire Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett Haines, not just their paintings, but the way they ran the school. It wasn’t traditional, it was full of life. You could feel that energy still in the house. It wasn’t about nostalgia; it was about potential. Things were happening.

I was there for six weeks. During that time, I painted what I saw and felt, the garden renovations, people working, views, the light. I also followed the preparations for the walled garden party fundraiser. That became its own story, the planning, the gardeners, the volunteers, the organisers and then the day of the party itself. That’s the kind of thing I love to capture, a moment in time, full of purpose, slightly chaotic, very human.

The Benton End works will be shown, and for sale there this November, in collaboration with the Garden Museum. It feels fitting that the work will be exhibited in the place that sparked it. Painting, like gardening, is about tending something. You care for it, and you hope it grows.”

Pathways is open 11am-3pm, 9-16 November 2025.

Works in the exhibition are for sale, with a portion going to the appeal to revive the walled garden.

There is no parking at Benton End. Parking is available in Hadleigh Town Centre and on Benton Street.

For further information and any enquiries contact beatrice.ps@gardenmuseum.org.uk