Sketching with the Brisbane Urban Sketchers at the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens

The Gardens include Brisbane's most mature gardens, with many rare and unusual botanic species. In particular the Gardens feature a special collection of cycads, palms, figs and bamboo. The Queensland Heritage Register describes the Gardens as "the most significant, non-Aboriginal cultural landscape in Queensland, having a continuous horticultural history since 1828, without any significant loss of land area or change in use over that time. It remains the premier public park and recreational facility for the capital of Queensland, which role it has performed since the early 1840s.

Fiscus

Waterfall

Tree fern

Naval Offices in Edward Street

The 1901 former Naval Offices, Brisbane, is important surviving evidence of the existence of the Queensland Marine Defence Force (QMDF, established 1885) and the later policy of basing Australian naval vessels in Queensland. Although the QMDF ceased to exist soon after the building was finished, it was used by the Australian Commonwealth Navy (ACN) and then the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) until the 1970s. The architectural style of the building is mainly Baroque, with an ornate entrance pediment which incorporates the Naval Defence Coat of Arms. This is a largely intact example of a Federation period building. The original wrought iron entry gates still hang in the arched entrance way. The building is predominantly constructed from red brick which is essentially plain on the lower level and stuccoed on the upper level."

December Sketches

Sketching at Parliament House with the Brisbane Urban Sketchers

Sunday Doodle

Sketching with the Brisbane Urban Sketchers in Cathedral Square - Anne Street

It was 32 degrees Celsius in the city today, but the Brisbane Urban Sketchers braved the heat and went sketching.  Seven of us descended on St John's Cathedral and Cathedral Square.

First sketch was of a. Sculpture El Emigrante by World Lebanese Cultural Union (2010)

The inscription reads..... "Le Imigrante - a statue, erected in memory of the Lebanese settlers, who 140 years ago established a presence in Australia."

I was sketching this amazing tree, from Cathedral Square, when around 500 people people descended on the park, milling around and standing between me and the tree. It turned out there was a fire drill and that was their meeting point. So I gave up.

Plein Air Painting at Lota Creek - Brisbane

We must be crazy, the Brisbane Plein Air Painters Group, we ventured out on one of the hottest days this month to paint..It was full tide when I got there, and the boats were sitting prettily in the water.  The tide left faster than I could paint though :)

Oil on board 15" x 12"

Oil on board 20" x 08"

It was a fun day, and Lota Creek is a fun place to paint.  Very safe.  We shall be going back again..

Having some fun....

Drew the sketch one week, and the next week I painted a picture solely from the sketch.

New Farm Park covers 15 hectares (37 acres) and is situated at the south-eastern end of the New Farm peninsula on a bend in the Brisbane River The Powerhouse arts centre is located at the eastern end of the park.

The area was dotted by lagoons and waterholes which the Aboriginals named Binkin-ba, meaning "place of the land tortoise" The land that the park now stands on was originally a farm, built to supply food for the recently founded convict settlement on the Brisbane River. A racecourse was built on the site in 1846, which operated until 1913, when the land for the park was acquired by the Brisbane City Council

The Bandstand was built in 1915, to a design by AH Foster.. It was built in conjunction with a kiosk which has since been destroyed by fire. The bandstand was built in July of that year, with the kiosk being built in September. Both were of the Federation Queen Anne style. It was part of the formal park work began by the BCC in 1914. Other facilities included a croquet lawn, picnic areas, cricket wickets, tennis courts and football grounds.

Sketching at St Martins War Memorial Hospital - Anne Street - Brisbane

Sketching New Farm Park with the Brisbane Urban Sketchers Tuesday 4th 2014

The land that the park now stands on was originally a farm, built to supply food for the recently founded convict settlement on the Brisbane River. A racecourse was built on the site in 1846, which operated until 1913, when the land for the park was acquired by the Brisbane City Council. Area 15 hectares (37 acres)

The area was dotted by lagoons and waterholes which the Aboriginals named Binkin-ba, meaning "place of the land tortoise"

Because of World War I the official opening of the park, which was conducted by Hamilton Goold-Adams, was delayed until July 1919 - The rotunda was built in 1915. It was part of the formal park. Work began by the Brisbane City Council in 1914. Other facilities included a croquet lawn, picnic areas, cricket wickets, tennis courts and football grounds.

The park is now a beautiful area, with jacaranda trees, Poinciana Trees, Cassia Trees. Magnificent rose gardens too.

Plein Air Painting Wellington Point

Oil on canvas

Oil on board

Sketching at the Sculpture Garden - Queensland Art Gallery

45th Worldwide Sketchrawl - Indooroopilly, and Walter Taylor Bridge.

We met up with Brisbane Greeters Tina and Susan, who were taking us on our tour of Walter Taylor Bridge.

Sketching whilst walking over the Jack Pesch Bridge 

The bridge is named in honour of Jack Pesch, a cycling champion during the 1930s. He subsequently ran a bicycle shop in Petrie Terrace Brisbane until the mid-1990s, selling and servicing his own 'Rocket' cycles and cycle parts.  The bridge crosses the Indooroopilly Reach of the River, linking Chelmer and Indooroopilly. It is immediately adjacent to the Albert and Walter Taylor Bridges. It was opened on 2 October 1998 by the Queensland Minister for Transport.

The Walter Taylor Bridge

The Walter Taylor Bridge is a heritage-listed suspension bridge crossing the Brisbane River between Indooroopilly and Chelmer in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is shared by motor traffic and pedestrians and is the only habitable bridge in the Southern Hemisphere..

The bridge was conceived, designed, built and funded by local visionary Walter Taylor,   Construction started in 1930, and it opened 14 February 1936.  Walter Taylor (1872 - 1955) was an Australian visionary and builder of many Brisbane landmarks.

Roma Street is a heritage-listed major railway station in the CBD of Brisbane, Australia. It was Brisbane's first railway station, opening in 1875

Sketching Chinatown with the Brisbane Urban Sketchers

Chinatown Mall was officially opened by Lord Mayor Sallyanne Atkinson on 29 January 1987, the first day of the Year of the Rabbit. The Mall was designed by architects and engineers from Guangzhou, and was intended to reflect Tang architecture.

In 1996 part of Jackie Chan's First Strike was shot in the Mall. The scene featured a car chase and an explosion. The Mall's pagoda was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt.

Sketching at City Hall with the Brisbane Urban Sketchers

City Hall in Brisbane is an amazing heritage listed building, full of grace and history. It was built between 1920 and 1930.

Some Historical Facts

• one of the most expensive Australian buildings (it cost around a million pounds)
• ranked as the second largest construction of its time, only outdone by the Sydney Harbour Bridge
• the first major Australian concrete 'column and beam' building constructed 

Brisbane Urban Sketchers

Designed by architectural firm, Hall and Prentice, City Hall has a great circular hall and corridors surounded by offices and function venues. The main entrance from King George Square is emphasised by imposing Corinthian columns that are nearly 14 metres high.  The building has a clock tower rising 92 metres above the ground.  One of the main building features is its grand marble staircase.

The Main Auditorium is City Hall's single largest space. The copper dome over the room is the largest in Australia, spanning 31 metres in diameter. The dome is supported on a brick base that allows the interior of the Main Auditorium to be unobscured by columns.

City Hall workers tried to use locally-sourced materials and were proud to handcraft the finer details of the building. The artistry and craftsmanship of the City Hall architecture draws thousands of interstate and overseas guests to the building each year.

Sketching the sculptures in King George Square

Sketching the Mansions on George Street

The Mansions is a row of six terrace houses located on the corner of George Street and Margaret Street in Brisbane. They were designed by G.H.M. Addison, and constructed by RE Burton in 1889. Dr. Lilian Violet Cooper, who was Queensland's first female doctor and Australia's first female surgeon, was one of the earliest residents.. They were built during the Victorian era  for residential use. After World War I the building became a rooming house.

The Mansions were very nearly demolished in 1974, luckily the plan was delayed, and the Mansions were eventually renovated from 1982-1984.