Friday, May 25, 2007

Hortense Miller Gardens

Yesterday, I met up with a new group of gals at the Hortense Miller Gardens in Laguna, CA. The day was set up by Tania from ArtPlantae as a botanical sketching class. First, we got a tour of the gardens and after a quick "get to know ya" lunch we were off sketching.

These hanging garden ornaments were made by Hortense, who is now in her 90's. They caught my eye as soon as we rounded the first corner on our tour.



I was the only non-gardener in the group so I don't know the names of many of the plants but I do know a begonia when I see it. The stringy stuff in the top corner is my poor attempt at Spanish Moss.

As you can see I did make a stop in the potting shed where I also took some photographs of the eclectic shelves.




I should have ask someone the name of this plant. These are not peppers but the buds (I think) of the plant. None of them were open so I am not really sure.

It was a beautiful and fun day with a great group.
Thanks Tania!

All of these are in my Robert Bateman Sketchbook with pen and watercolor.

18 comments:

mARTa said...

I love your botanical sketches! I am not a gardner either so that's probably why I don't do flowers much. sounds like you had a good time!

Bonny said...

Sounds like you had a fun day out, Deborah. Your sketches are terrific! I love the colours you chose for the grid.
Lovely!

laserone_ said...

These are really neat. I especially like the grid. Very colorful. :)

Lin said...

LOVELY LOVELY garden sketches!

Anonymous said...

That's it. I am ditching my paint brushes and all of that oozing water and sticking with my water brushes. I love the colors that you added to your sketches. Very nice!

Teri said...

Gorgeous sketches! Thanks for R. Bateman!!! What a fun day you all had!!

Linda T said...

Great sketches with a nice peaceful sense to them!!

Nancy said...

Deborah - I have enjoyed looking at all your posts - they are wonderful!

Emma Pod said...

These are beautiful drawings! I really like the green cactus type plant on the top, and the squared plant drawings are wonderful. I'm not a gardener either, but I am a plant appreciater!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful sketches! You did a wonderful job on all of them.

Cindy Cooksey said...

Beautiful sketches! Hi Deborah, I know you from a previous life. It's nice to see you are still doing creative things...

Peceli and Wendy's Blog said...

Plants and flowers are fun to draw but not to get too fussy and scientific about. The variety of shape, colour, texture is amazing. I've been on a garden theme lately as it's getting cool (I'm in Oz) to go out sketching by the sea, etc.
wendy

juj said...

Ooo! Hens and chickens - love those thick waxy leaves. Those hanging ornaments are amazing. Now that's something I could keep alive in my garden!

Africantapestry and Myfrenchkitchen said...

Wonderful sketches and as before, I love your grid.
Ronell

Annie Jeffries said...

What a lovely day, Deb. Your drawings are wonderful. I especially like the wood garden decorations in the first one.

Cindy Cooksey said...

Thanks for visiting my blog, Deb. I lost your blog address, so it took me a while to find it again to answer you back. You asked how I found your blog - I just stumbled upon it, through EveryDayMatters, which I learned about from an Illustration Friday interview of Danny Gregory. I learned about Illo Friday from Quilt Art List. Isn't it funny how one thing leads to another?

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