flower painting in the studio.
Susan's beautiful ink painting of flowers done today in the flower workshop. Everyone did wonderful painted and drawn interpretations of flowers.
tenative start......
'Art in the garden' workshops start in May.
Classes are held in the pavilion nestled in the Australian Plant Section of the Botanic Garden. It is wonderful to work looking out into nature. For our first class it rained lightly after tea.
Wendy creating magic with charcoal.
“The workshop is not a class to make art; it is a class to make mistakes, to rework, not to make finished pieces”
“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”
The new work has begun.
a slow walk in the garden reveals hidden beauty. Standing still and listening to the breeze in the leaves, the rustle in the grass of a darting water dragon , the ducks on the lake. Looking up to discover two Tawny Frogmouths staring down at me.
“A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image “
”
standing at the edge.
A new year begins with Autumn in the garden. The theme of this years work is' Traces of Landscape'.
“These trees are magnificent, but even more magnificent is the sublime and moving space between them, as though with their growth it too increased. ”
“I am following nature without being able to grasp her..I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers”
Pru gave me a big bucket of waterlilies. What a treat it has been to paint them. Thank you Pru.
“One looks,looks long, and the world comes in”
back to work! Into the last month of painting in the garden. Painting what I love most.
Summer is here.
“Go to the object. Leave your subjective preoccupation with yourself. Do not impose yourself on the object. Become one with the object. Plunge deep enough into the object to see something like a hidden glimmering there.”
“The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing”
slowly.....
17 October to 23 October I had a wonderful week in the Richard Randall Studio as part of the residency. I invited others to share the space with me to offer some wonderful classes for the public . Thank you Jane ( homeopath) , Jane (writer) , Matt (poet), Jude ( Qi Gong) and Manish (Mindfullness). The theme was healing and art in nature.
“It was enough just to sit there without words”
“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)
“When the days become longer and there is more sunshine,the grass becomes fresh and,consequently, we feel very happy.”
September. Spring has arrived.......
the last days of winter .....working with paper........ inspired by nature
As part of the botanic garden residency I am able to work in both the city botanic gardens and the Mt Coot-tha botanic gardens. A visit last week to the mangrove swamp situated at the edge of the city botanical gardens cradling the Brisbane river was fascinating and inspirational. Painting and drawing mangroves at low tide has kept me busy. I look forward to a high tide visit soon.
winter drawing in the garden with pastels .
