City Botanic Gardens Brisbane ( Australia)

It was a lovely day, windy but sunny.  I had a ball sketching with he Brisbane Urban Sketchers..

Sitting with my friend on the edge of the river pathway

11" x 15' Arches rough Hero fountain pen fude nib

This is  the corner of the rotunda shaped visitor information centre

A4 pastel paper Hero fude nib pen and waterbrush

A quick setch whilst waiting for another friend to finish her sketch.  I didn't get it finished, sadly, as I was loving the shadows and values happening on the fauna.

A5 225gsm Holcroft sketchbook Hero fude nib pen and waterbrush

 

WAR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Sketching the War Memorial Hospital at St Johns Cathedral.

I was told today, that the dome I was sketching used to be the old Operating Theater.

A5 225gsm Holcroft Sketchbook - Lamy Pen - Watercolours.

 

 

Brisbane Urban Sketchers go to Ipswich

What  a super day it was today.  Three of us went to the Ipswich Medieval Market and Fantasy Faire to sketch.  This event is held yearly, but I have never been to this one before.  I don't remember going to the Ipswich CBD before either.  I is only a 40 minute drive from Brisbane, and is full of gorgeous historical buildings.

First sketch of the day was a dashing cavelier 

 Next was Edmond a Coin Minter.

Third was Jabadaw, playing a Hurdy Gurdy and a recorder.  

Followed by Rebecca playing Greensleeves on the harp

Bonnie was separating Drysdale sheep fleece

Lastly Gypsy Love and her Gypsy van

Sketching at the GOMA looking over the Brisbane River

Sketching on the river was wonderful today.  A glorious Autumn day, warm and fun.  I started off sketching with Liane on the grassed area, and then we both moved on up to Kurilpa bridge to sit with a group of sketchers sketching our beautiful river.   My sketch is 3 separate sketches overlapping.

The University of Queensland (Australia)

The University of Queensland, UQ, is an Australian research university founded in 1909, UQ is one of Australia's oldest and most selective universities.  You can read about the history of this beautiful and historical university HERE You can read about the Great Court where I was sketching HERE, and about the Coats of arms I sketched and the Grotesques..

The columns that support the cloister around the Great Court are adorned with coats of arms representing the tertiary institutions of the British Commonwealth, other significant international universities, and the UQ residential colleges. The external walls of the cloister feature archways and roundels that depict native Queensland flora and fauna and exotic and agriculturally significant species.

 

 

 

Perhaps the most intriguing features are the carved stone caricatures or grotesques that decorate the outside walls of the Great Court. These portraits are popular because of the light-hearted quality they bring to the otherwise formal architecture. Their quirky designs reflect the whims of the stonemasons who created them. Subjects include UQ academics, fictional characters from literature, mythical creatures, a portrait of stonemason John Theodore Muller, and a self-portrait of sculptor Rhyl Hinwood.

 

 

 

Saint Johns Cathedral with the Brisbane USkers

We had a good group today, sketching at the historical St Johns and right next to it St martins House.

St Martin's Hospital was erected as a war memorial to commemorate those who had served in the First World War.  The hospital was named after St. Martin of Tours as the 11th of November (Remembrance Day) is his feast day. On 28 November 1922 the hospital was officially opened and dedicated by the then Governor-General of Australia, Lord Forster. 

 

 For a period of fifty years until its closure in 1971, the Sisters with a staff of devoted nurses operated an efficient hospital in this building serving the Queensland community, true to its purpose of a living war memorial.
"Take heed lest ye forget"
Plaque :
St. Martin`s Hospital
Chruch Of England War Memorial
In perpetual remembrance of the sorrows and sufferings of the Great War and lest the spirit of sacrifice then kindled should perish from among us.
This hospital with those who serve here, is set for a living witness and appeal.
These words were inscribed on a silky oak plaque in the Entrance Hall of St Martin`s Hospital

St Johns Cathedral, or part thereof.

 

 

Saint Johns Cathedral has taken over 100 years to build, and it is still ongoing. The foundation stone of St John's Cathedral was laid in 1901.  From 1910 until the mid 1960s, the building remained much as it was opened.  The building is in Early English Gothic style, with many characteristics of French Gothic, built largely in local stone: external coursed rubble of porphyry, and internal freestone dressings of brown Helidon sandstone.  The second phase of the building, comprising an extension of a further four bays to the nave, was commenced in 1965 and consecrated in 1968 by Archbishop Philip Strong. Again, a temporary west wall was constructed.   The final phase of construction commenced in 1989, comprising the completion of the nave, construction of the south-west porch and west front, addition of the north and south towers, completion of the central tower, and the addition of the three spires. The completed building was consecrated by Archbishop Phillip Aspinall in October 2009 or so they thought, but...........

These are  6 of the 29 life sized statues to be positioned on the front of the Cathedral.