Royal Botanic Garden Sydney : Alissa Duke

Congratulations to Kate and to the the Sketching in Nature blog for winning the Making a Mark Award. This is a wonderful site and opportunity for sharing and exploring nature around the world  through art!

Last week, a sunny Summers day in Sydney was the perfect opportunity to do some urban nature sketching in the Royal Botanic Garden in the center of Sydney.

I sketched with three friends and we started under the shade of a large Moreton Bay Fig. I was distracted by a Dusky Moorhen that had built its nest right next to the fountain spout in a nearby pond. There were a few young dusky moorhens around the pond area, so I am not sure if there were any eggs. I wonder if the Gardens staff have kept the fountain off during these months.?

These White Ibis are prolific in Sydney city, seen around rubbish bins, as well as in the parks and gardens. They are very beautiful lookings birds. If only there were not so many of them., and they were not a nuisance.They are great subjects to capture quickly on paper. I used ink and then added some watercolour pencil.The tagged one caught my eye. I have since found out that Research is currently under way that involves banding and wing-tagging Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) within the Sydney region. The aim is to monitor ibis’ movements, breeding and habitat preferences. Colour-banding and numbered wing-tags allow identification of individual ibis; observations have been received from across the Sydney region and as far away as Shepparton (Vic), Coffs Harbour (NSW), Brisbane and Townsville (Qld).

The Lotus Pond is  always changing. There was only one Lotus flower in the pond, but lots of green leaves to draw.

And my favourite, quintessential  duck is the Pacific Black Duck. They have so much character in their face with those lovely markings.

Australian Rockery plants at Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens

Sydney Sketch Club went to the Australian Rockery at the SydneyRoyal Botanic Garden. It is Spring here at the moment and some of the Australian native plants are in flower.

I drew Xanthorrhoea (grass trees) which are a unique Australian plant. They have a large base of grassy leaves and a long flower spike. As with many Australian native plants these plants can quickly regenerate after a bushfire, with new leaves sprouting from the blackened stump. The indigenous aboriginies used the spear shafts and also resin from the plant for tools.

As I drew this, I made notes on my page of all the sounds I could hear around me. Kookaburras, children playing and fighting, the tourist train, party boats on the Harbour, a helicopter, jetboats, tourists. sketchers chatting.. and in the moments of quietness I could hear leaves falling or the water lapping against the sea wall.



I then drew Gymea lilies



Kerry ( RBG staff) told me of the signifigance of everything in my drawing.

In the background, beyond Sydney Harbour are the headlands, where the ships carrying the First Fleet of European settlers arrived in Sydney in 1788.

In the mid-ground is the sea wall, a sandstone wall built in 1848 as about 3 acres of tidal land at the edge of the Gardens was reclaimed at Farm Cove.

In the foreground are Gymea Lilies, which are a plant of the Sydney region. They have a flower spike of about 6 meters, which flowers in Spring and Summer. They were used as a source of food for the indigenous Eora pople. They are now being used as indicator as part of climate change project as their flowering time is so precise.

Wierd Tropical Plants - Liz Steel

I am sorry that I have been so slack in posting to this blog in recent times. Although it is a while ago, we had a wonderful 6 weeks of Garden Sketchabouts in the Botanic Gardens Sydney... as per these previous posts.

The last week was a terribly wet day so we ended up in the tropical centre. In all my years of visiting the garden I had never been inside...and was I amazed by what I discovered in there. So many weird and wonderful plants!!! Even the leaf shapes and colours were unusual.

It was a bit of a challenge to sketch inside in the tropical centre glasshouses because the air was so moist that my paints were very gooey and occasional random drips landed on my page from time to time - everything got wet and I managed to get paint everywhere!

This one, a tongue Orchid, native to Papua New Guinea caught my eye! Thankfully it didn't seem to be ommitting a putrid stench of rotting meats while I was sketching it!

Here are two links to more information... looks amazing when it is actually in flower
http://www.orchidsonline.com.au/node/651
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulbophyllum_fletcherianum

If you are interested in seeing all my sketches from the 6 weeks of Sketchabouts check the full sketchbook here. The architect in me was drawn to many of the buildings in the gardens, or the vistas and I didn't actually sketch that many individual plants! It was the most wonderful event and culminated in a 3 day exhibition of the best 30 sketches, and we are very thankful for the Gardens to have the vision to organise this event.

Royal Botanic Gardens Sketchabout, Sydney

Yesterday was the first day of the Sydney Royal Botanic Garden Sketchabout, where all of Sydney is invited to come and sketch in the Gardens with us .

The gardens cover 30 hectares in a spectacular setting in Sydney, right next to the CBD. It was established n 1816 and has a huge variety of plants and trees. Our little bit if nature in the middle of the city!!!

Sketchabout is happening each Satuday afternoon for the next six weeks as part of their Autumn of the Arts festival. We are encouraging people who attended to upload their drawings to the blog

We had over 40 people turn out on a beautiful sunny afternoon. After an welcome by Kerry from the RBG , Liz Steel gave an introduction and then we spread out through the Gardens, meeting up at 3pm to share sketchbooks and experiences. This is the first time that this has been held and we were very unsure as to how it would go. But the day was fantastic . It was especially wonderful to see the sketchers all chatting amongst themselves and members of the public at the end. Everyone found different parts and things in the Gardens to draw and explore - and that was what the Gardens wanted to achieve.

As I was involved in the event, I spent a lot of the time chatting to sketchers, but managed to draw a Moreton Bay Fig and also the fruits of the same tree. These were on the ground around me. They are eaten (half eaten) by the fruit bats that live in the gardens .

Moreton Bag Fig: Ficus macrophylla. Large spreading tree, epiphytic and strangling in early stages, trunks becoming massive with large buttresses. Distribution and occurrence: In coastal rainforest of all types,NSW Qld Vic

Looking forward to next week !!

Moreton Bay Fig

Along with Alissa, I am very excited to be a part of the upcoming Garden Sketchabout. Here are some sketches of my favourite tree- it is a Moreton Bay Fig with huge buttressed trunk and many aerial roots. Every view is completely different!

A stroll in the Royal Botanic Garden , Sydney

Saturday was such a lovely day that I decided to take a walk from the Sydney Opera House and out to Mrs Macquarie Chair in the Royal Botanic Garden (RBG) and then around to the NSW Art Gallery. The Sydney Royal Botanic Garden is in a spectacular setting on the shores of Sydney Harbour, next the Sydney Opera House and the City.

The Gardens are a bit of nature in the heart of the city of Sydney.

The Garden covers 30 hectares and everywhere there are reminders of Sydney’s beginnings. The Garden is situated on the land of the Indigenous Cadigal people. This was where Australia’s first penal colony was established in 1788 when 11 ships, the First Fleet, carrying over 700 convicts, landed here.. In 1816 the Botanic Gardens of Sydney was founded on this site by Governor Macquarie as part of the Governor’s Domain. Charles Fraser was appointed as the first Colonial Botanist in 1817, establishing the Botanic Gardens as the oldest scientific institution in Australia. (Source: http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/)

FACTS

The Oldest pre-settlement remnant trees in the Royal Botanic Garden: Sydney Red Gum Angophora costata, and three Forest Red Gums Eucalyptus tereticornis

Oldest planted trees in the Royal Botanic Garden: Hoop Pine, Giant Watergum, both planted c. 1820-28 in the Palm Grove

Oldest plant specimens: collected at Botany Bay in 1770 by Joseph Banks

Wildlife: includes Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, White Ibis, Brush-tailed Possum, Flying Fox

Number of visitors: about 3 million (Royal Botanic Gardens) and 4 million (Domain) per year

And why am I sketching in the Gardens ???

I am involved in the Royal Botanic Gardens Great Garden Sketchabout, which is being held in March and April. They are calling on all artists aged two to 100 to join the Great Garden Sketchabout on Saturday afternoons or whenever you fancy a wander in the Gardens with pencil and sketchbook. Meet other sketchers to share your drawings and adventures.3.30 pm ‘show & tell’ at Garden Kiosk Follow the blog at gardensketchabout.blogspot.com/

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MY WALK

It took me two hours to do my walk and that's because I was drawing along the way. My first stop was the Queensland Bottle tree and then a Moreton Bay Fig. The bottle tree is named because is stores water in its trunk . They are not always as swollen as this one, and usually upright. This must be quite old , as its limbs have need to be supported by blocks put in by Garden staff.



Bottle Tree


Moreton Bay Fig

The Moreton Bay Fig is an evergreen tree that can reach heights of 60 m (200 ft).[The trunk can be massive, with thick, prominent buttressing, and reach a diameter of 2.4 m (8 ft). The characteristic "melting" appearance of the Moreton Bay fig is due to its habit of dropping aerial roots from its branches, which upon reaching the ground, thicken into supplementary trunks which help to support the weight of its crown.


I then stopped in the shade of the rock wall to take in the stunning view (and wishing that I had bought a picnic lunch- and sunscreen) The beautiful rock is a sandstone I believe.


and then finally out to Mrs Macquaries Chair . Named because 1816 Governor Macquaroes wife supposedly liked to sit here . It is a fantastic view of Sydney Harbour, city and out to the headlands.