Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Art where ever you may be.

I spent beautiful sunny Saturday last, at the UBC Botanical Gardens here in Vancouver discovering many lovely and interesting things.

One of the things that REALLY fascinated me was the way in which the gardeners had created complicated geometric designs out of their fruit trees.



You can see the amazing shapes they've managed to configure; in one area they had a whole 'fence' made from intertwined trees.
It was nice to be able to take these pictures before the foliage came out as it gives an excellent view of what they've done.















This PINK magnolia was astounding, as well:

It was part of several trees that were framing an interesting architectural design that lead to a viewing area: out there in the blue distance, the ocean.


One of the things that I loved so much was discovering another statue by Sophie Ryder.
I first saw some of her work her in Vancouver in 1998 in Stanley Park.
A year later, during Spider's and my trip to the UK and Ireland, we found her home base in Bath and I was amazed again by her.

I stumbled on yet another of her works,
quite by suprise in the gardens.


















As his feet lay a lovely turf labyrinth, which I took the time to walk.
I'm sorry I don't have a picture of it, but alas, I had no where high enough from which to view it.

And, for your final viewing pleasure, a picture of English Bay, Vancouver B.C.




*My apologies if this looks crappy on your end...it didn't seem to want to fit together the way I wanted, and as a result it may appear a bit choppy.
Hope you manage to make heads or tails of it some how!

19 comments:

K. said...

Interesting, thanks for the pics! That pink flower is truly beautiful. One of my favorite things to see is a magnolia tree in full bloom - gorgeous!

Grant said...

Vancouver is pretty. Do they let you shoot at the sailboats?

Pol* said...

nice! Spring is so lovely around here. I mean, we are blessed with GREEN all year round, but its the different tapestries of green in their complex patterns that define each season. Except SPRING! New colours pop up every week, a little purple and yellow and white, followed closely by an amazing variety of pink, and then all the others come, welcome and warm!

Ian Lidster said...

Tai, you write so soulfully, especially when you're dealing with pastoral themes. That's one of the reasons I love reading you. Cheers, Ian

Lori Stewart Weidert said...

Wow! Great photographs, spring is really coming, Hurrrayyy!

tsduff said...

Love seeing the works by Sophie Ryder, they are amazing. There is one called Rocking and Rolling which seems to made of metal, shaped into a murder of crows or rocs. Fabulous! Thanks for sharing a walk through the gardens from so far away :-)

Kazzy said...

This pics look great - you are right, the pics certainly help make a difference in between our rain showers! I love the wet coast, and our tumultuous weather.. just one of those few days coming up I wish it will hold off for a while between 2 - 4pm LOL

I love looking at all the blossoms - it is our real form of snow - even if it is pink!!!

BostonPobble said...

It's all lovely. *sigh* Thanks for sharing!

Claire said...

Lovely photos!

Leesa said...

We have magnolia trees in Georgia as well. Old, beautiful trees. Love your pictures, too.

fjl said...

That's a lovely selection, it looks as if you had a lovely day getting in touch with self and life. The tree made me laugh. No question why their spontenaety figures in kids' stories.

Alice said...

what a fabulous garden... we have something like that back home in New Jersey called Grounds for Sculpture. it's a beautifully laid-out property, all rolling hills and bordering a lake and stuff, with statues intermingled with the trees and on hilltops. it's lovely... much like your botanical gardens, it seems :-)

nicki said...

GREAT pics Tai!! Thanks for sharing!! its nice to see SPRING...SOMEWHERE...heehehe :)

Stephanie said...

I just went to Sophie Ryder's web site. Her work is really, really interesting...minotaurs and lady hares.

Jay Noel said...

Wow...those are some gorgeous pics. I especially love the Bay. Looks so relaxing.

Skye said...

Beautiful!

Zambo said...

Hey again, Tai.

That was a pretty good adventure! I really like the sculptures and the geometric trees. My dad once grafted a tree that yielded three different types of fruit (apricots, yellow plums and purple plums, I think)...He called it the Frankenstein tree.

Thanks for sharing the pix!

Take care.

Your pal,

Zambo.

Crystal said...

I LOVE the picture of the pink magnolia flower! I almost want to print it out and frame it! ;-) Botanical Gardens are wonderful magical places and I often feel an urge to book a trip to Singapore just for the chance to visit the orchid gardens.

Tim Rice said...

I love your picture of English Bay, Vancouver, B.C. Makes me want to come there. :)

And in earlier post, I was fascinated with your castle pictures. Castles are just so intriguing.