West Dean gardens

Last week the Engineer and I were lucky enough to have a day off work together.  We have lived in this area of Hampshire for over 20 years and had never been to West Dean Gardens. 

What a beautiful day: the weather was hot but we had on our hats and sun cream so we were ok.  But, oh dear, I forgot the camera so all the photos were taken on my phone, hence the poor quality.  Anyway here they are:  We went into the walled garden which was beautifully set out; I love walled gardens so I loved it.  I especially liked the hedgehog hole in the door.

This is an apple tree grown around a frame to make a square shape.

 

 

The colour was much more intense than the photo shows.

There was a lovely pergola covered in flowers.

We had a really nice lunch in the West Dean tea rooms; I had a quinoa and roasted beetroot salad (there should have been hallomi too but I am trying to be vegan so I asked for no cheese).

There was a beautiful kitchen garden and I am a sucker for them (and allotments) - even the Engineer liked this one as all the rows were dead straight with even the labels neatly lined up.  Sorry there are no photos of that.

All in all it was a really nice day and as it was a weekday it was quieter than it could have been at the weekend.

From my own little garden I have finally harvested a whole tomato!  I had to be very careful to not show the dog, Jack, what I was doing as he would only go off and chew the rest of them. 

Me! chew anything, never!

I am going to a botanical art workshop next weekend: its titled Fragrant Roses and it will be an intense three days of drawing in a lovely setting.    I will try and document my progress for you.  I haven't done any drawing in a while as life gets very busy at times. 

Work in progress

I said in my last post that I was going to share some of my work in progress with you. 
The newly formed Association of British Botanical Artists are putting together an exhibition of artworks of native British plants.  All the details are here.

I am attempting to do an Aquilegia Vulgaris in coloured pencil.  Below are some photos of my work so far.

sketches in graphite

I was able to access a microscope so I could take some brilliant close-ups of the plant.  I took a flower apart to see how it all fitted together.

 I sketched some petals etc. but I wanted to show the seed head too; it is a very interesting and lovely flower:

I did a line drawing of the seed head and then traced it and transferred the image so I could do a sketch in graphite giving me a good idea of form.

Transfer from the tracing

Graphite sketch

I then started to put my colours together. I choose each single colour and then start mixing, taking a note of what the mixtures are, just like in watercolour I suppose.

Page from my sketch book

I then started to do a colour sketch of the seed head.

Beginning to add form

Not a good photo I'm afraid

Another tiny seed head

On the plant was a lovely tiny seed head with two petals still attached. 

I am going to try and show the full life cycle of the plant so I will need to show seed heads as they are formed. 

I am continuing to sketch and put things together.  I am trying to do things properly and get my colours sorted before I begin the actual drawing composition. I find this preparation and planning quite difficult as I always want to jump straight in and start the bit I love doing the most. 

Hello

Hello,  I know I haven't posted in a long time: life has been busy in the Su+2 household - we are now a +3 as a new member of the family has arrived.


Jack (he plays with the rope and is not tied up with it)

This is Jack a Cockapoo, who is full of fun and mischief.  We decided to add him to our family mainly to help the Teen who has been struggling with anxiety and depression for a while.  They are in the process of being assessed for Autism and the more we look into it as a family the more it makes sense to explain the Teen's problems.  Jack has helped the Teen by not only making sure that they go outside but he is very good at cuddles when they are anxious and he makes them laugh. 
And yes, he has chewed everything, though his taste in books it quite discerning - he seemed to really enjoy Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. 

This weekend we went to Mottisfont to see the roses.  Oh my!  Not only seeing them but smelling them.  However, we didn't wander for too long as it was very hot.  Here are some photos - unfortunately I cannot send you the lovely scent. 

And finally a beautiful poppy from my garden.  The bees love them; I tried to get a photo of a fat bumble bee enjoying the nectar but he was to quick for me.

I have been doing some art work too but I will save that for my next blog post as I need to take some photographs. 

Enjoy this amazing weather.