My favourite time of year is Spring time. The weather here in Brisbane is beautiful, the mornings have a slight chill and the days are a lovely temperature with no humidity. Spring has defiantly unlocked the flowers in my world which is full of colour in nature and my garden. The main colour in nature has been the beautiful yellow of the native wattles.
My garden is full of spring flowers and buds that promise future delight. My Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise) provided me with another double headed bract which meant I had to capture and record it. With Sunflowers being in season, I had to buy some and they looked really good in a vase with my Strelitzia.
The above two pages finished my sketchbook which I started on the 28th of May this year. This is my third sketchbook that I have finished so far for 2025.
I treated myself to a new Etchr limited edition sketchbook, but feel scared to use. It is a very nice sketchbook and I feel as if I need to save it for something special and not ruin it. Instead I made my own sketchbook, which was inspired by Samantha Dion Baker , and Helen C Stark.
I enjoyed the process of creating my sketchbook but my biggest problem is I went over the top with paper!!!! My handmade sketchbook has a variety of paper and was meant to include some of my hand made paper as well…… but I forgot to include them.
This is the very first page of my sketchbook. I felt that I needed a good quote to inspire my journey and the sunflowers added a burst of happy colours.
My blue paper came in handy with my Freesias in flower. I love recording what is in my garden and finding out what each flower means.
On the 17 th of September, I did two walks which inspired me to record some of the birds I saw. The family of Swans is from one of my favourite walks at Minnippi and I always look out for the swans. The Cygnets have grown since last time I saw them. The Pink Galahs were at the park around the corner from our house. Tilly was with me and sat down watching them wandering around the grass.
These two pages document a day trip to Redcliffe, north of Brisbane. We had a lovely walk, followed by lunch at Scarborough. Apart from Botanicals, I love recording what I see in nature and I love birds.
I completed another lesson with Heidi Willis on Patreon. I decided to do her Sunflower with them being in season. This was a lot of fun to do, although my inner critic was constantly making me aware of my watercolour pigment use and my techniques. I am happy how the painting turned out and hopefully my skills will continue to improve and my inner critic will be quiet.
Another flower that has appeared in my garden is my Noble Dendrobium Orchid. These two plants were very neglected, so you can imagine my surprise that they were both full of buds. I spent the last few days of September working on recreating my Orchids in my sketchbook using my Faber Castell watercolour and polychromos pencils. I enjoyed the process of building up the layers over a few days. I love how they turned out.
Another project that was finished in September was finishing off my travel sketchbook from our holiday the last week of August to Central Western Queensland.
Looking back at my sketchbook journey, I am discovering that what inspires me the most is my garden and my natural environment. I am more likely to grab my sketchbook if I see something from nature that to record my food and daily life. I think I will continue to keep recording what I see and build my skills and knowledge in this area.
Until next time,
Take care,
Such a beautiful sketchbook ☺️