Brisbane City City Sketchers at Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens

Such a lovely Tuesday morning with the Brisbane City Sketchers.  I really love this bunch of people, they are good hearted people and so much fun.

The  Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha is a huge rambling place, loads of water features, and wildlife.  It is 56-hectare, subtropical  gardens featuring native & exotic plants.
The gardens, which were originally called the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and  were established by the Brisbane City Council in 1970, and officially opened in 1976

The gardens feature more than 200,000 plants representing approximately 5000 species from around the world. Plants are displayed in subtly changing thematic and geographic communities.
In 1985, work commenced on the 27 hectare Australian Plant Communities collection. This area, starting with the magnificent Bunya Forest, offers visitors a wonderful opportunity to view Australian native plants.
The newest edition to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha opened in May 2015. Delivered as part of the Legacy Way tunnel project, this four hectare area includes a conservation walk, kitchen garden, new lagoon and children's playground.

 This Tropical Display Dome is a large lattice structure (geodesic) displaying plants from the tropics.

The dome provides a climate close to the natural growing conditions for  range of shrubs, climbers, epiphytes and small trees that wouldn't normally grow in Brisbane.

  

There  are several lagoons in the gardens, teeming with wildlife and water birds.  This one had a class of school children and their teacher doing nature lessons.  It was delightful to sit there drawing and listening to the lesson.

A little Hideaway

I had an amazing morning with the Brisbane City Sketchers at a hidden beach.  Colmslie Beach Reserve is a beautiful little spot that is tucked away.  I love going there to sketch and paint, it is peaceful, and so much to see, from an artists point of view.

 

Looking at the Gateway Bridge and the Former Co-operative Sugar Mill, on the left, which commenced operation in Commenced in 1872 Wilmar Gavilon converted the former mills to a Bulk Storage Wharf. I am pretty sure it is now a River Gravel Depot. The Royal Queensland Golf Club is across the river.

Gotham Towers

I had a lovely morning with the Brisbane City Sketchers, sketching in King George Square.  I chose the Law building this morning, because I really loved the shapes between the Town Hall and the Law Building.  

The Law building  was built over 40 years ago, and the facade we Brisbanites affectionately call "Gotham Towers" or "The Batman Building"  was built in 1995.

Sketched in my handmade 7" x 8" sketchbook pen and watercolour

Brisbane City Sketchers in Roma Street Parkland

What a wonderful morning, sketching at the Roma Street Parklands with the Brisbane City Sketchers..

In 1825 the Roma Street Parkland area was part of the original Brisbane settlement. In 1875 a terminal station in Roma Street was constructed as part of the main western railway to Brisbane linking Ipswich and Toowoomba.  Local Indigenous people used the area for thousands of years conducting meetings and ceremonies. Construction began of the current Parkland in 2000 and the parkland opened to the public in 2001.

I sat in Fern Gully to sketch this mother duck and her seven babies.  I did the same last year too, this is her favourite place to rear them.

 

 

The lady right facing brought her gorgeous four year old  granddaughter with her today, and April made three of those artworks below.  She is an amazing little girl.

The Little Red Providore

THE LITTLE RED PROVIDORE

In past lives, this 140-year-old building on Windsor Road was once a General Store, then an antique lighting store before its more recent transformation into the eatery. Today, the matte black painted building has taken on a new persona as The Little Red Providore.

Handmade sketchbook 8" x 7" Pen and Watercolour

Brisbane City Sketchers at New Farm park

The New Farm park Ferry Terminal is under construction, being one of the last terminals along the river to be rebuilt into flood proof structure.

Three of us sat in the End of the Road cafe, sipping coffee whilst we sketched. It was a lovely morning.

Handmade 8" x 6" sketchbook graphite, pen, and watercolour.

 Brisbane City Sketchers

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Brisbane Australia Temple is the 115th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Brisbane temple is the fifth temple in Australia.

A groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication for the temple were held on May 26, 2001. Construction began in November of 2001, and it took eighteen months and eleven million dollars to complete its construction. Despite the high price, the temple was built without any debt and was completely funded by members of the Mormon Church.