In October we visited the Bedford Garden Festival on our way to and from Port Elizabeth. We explored the delights of 7 colourful gardens, and took lots of photographs along the way. The dry conditions plaguing the Eastern Cape, had not affected these exquisite gardens, and bore testament to the tenacity of their gardeners. The heat did not deter the car loads of visitors, nor did it bother us. Every garden was a stunning spectacle and a treat for the senses. I hope my sketches can convey in some small way, the treasures that we found at every garden we visited. We started with Chestnut Grove and moved on to Cavers and Kelvinside. Then we came back through Bedford to Maastrom and finally Albertvale. On our return trip we visited Fairholt and Eildon. The six sketches of this series were the views that inspired me the most, but there were many more that I’d still love to paint in the future; and as Henry Miller once said, “What the painter sees, he is duty bound to share”
All the following paintings are pen & wash. Watercolour on Saunders Waterford 300g. size: 350 x 260 mm.
