“There is a whole world in a single leaf”
End of September. The garden is a hive of activity . Flowers, bees ,spring rain, orchids flowering in trees...... perfect weather for garden walks.
16.09.16 An inspiring workshop with Eco artist Tijn Meulendijks 'Originating actions' : Eco-art workshop Thank you artisan for organising it.
The black kauri or blue kauri (Agathis atropurpurea) is a species of conifer in the Araucariaceae family. It is found only in Queensland, Australia and is threatened by habitat loss. (pictured on the right above)
winter drawing in the garden with pastels .
The Grevilleas are flowering. Painting heaven.....
“The beauty of shadow comes from the beauty of light!”
“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of landscape - the loneliness of it - the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.”
I have been spending time by the lake in the Australian Plant Section of the botanical gardens walking and writing and staring at the reflections on the water .
“All pictures painted inside the studio will never be as good as the things done outside”
Cooler weather ...it"s time to head into the garden and paint.
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree. ”
The Arid Zone......Thorns....During the month of April I enjoyed the arid zone with it's beautiful Aloes and Euphorbias and the succulents in the Cacti and Succulent house. I also enjoyed meeting Prue who looks after the succulents,the fern house and the tropical Dome.
The Temperate Zone......Petals....... on the other side of the lake the Camellias and Magnolias are flowering. What a beautiful sight!
This week I continue to paint specimens from the succulent and aloe garden.
During my early morning visit to the gardens on Wednesday I met Prue who is back from her holiday. She looks after the succulent area.. She very kindly picked me a Stapelia from the garden to include in my box of specimens to paint for the week... She also informed me I would have to clean the fly larvae out of the center as I may have a maggot problem in the studio if I don't! The Stapelia is a carrion flower and its odour of rotting meat attracts insects to it.
Back in the studio I immediately set to work picking the fly larvae out of the flower centre with a toothpick and giving it a good rinse. The flower feels like latex. looks like a starfish. and it proved a very difficult specimen to paint.
I failed. My miserable effort ended up being torn up and placed in the bin. But I was treated to a wonderful display of the Stapelia flower on my work desk being lit up by an afternoon ray of sunshine.
That was worth the struggle!
