We started our morning by loading up in the vans and travelling to the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, IL. Started by John Simonds in 1972, this garden focuses on the interaction between humans and plants. The purposes of the Botanic Garden are collection, education, and research of various plant species.
 |
| Julie, Chad, and Deb brief us on our plant sketch assignment. |
With the help of grad student Chad Hunter, we took a very long (but informative) plant walk through the gardens, making a 2-page spread of the plants that we saw, while adding notes and comments.
 |
| Chad Hunter shows us the leaves of the Quercus imbricaria. |
We saw a wide variety of plants including (but not limited to) coffee trees, birches, oaks, and alders.
 |
| We're all gathered around sketching and annotating the plants. |
One interesting area in particular was the Esplanade Plaza.
 |
| This was the fountain in the pond of the Esplanade Plaza. |
Our plant walk was long and grueling (we didn't have lunch until 3:00), but the time and effort we put in was well worth it. We all had beautiful drawings of the plants that we encountered in the garden.
 |
| An example of the two page sketch of the plants (complete with colored pencils). |
After our late lunch, we all loaded back up in the vans and headed over to Lincoln Park where we visited the Caldwell Lily Pool. This pond was once murky, and weed infested, but around 2000, it was completely redone. New stonework was implemented and plants were brought in. All the plants were different ages, which prevented the site from looking completely new, but instead gave it an older feel.
 |
| A view of the Caldwell Lily Pool. |
While there, we spent time making a colored pencil sketch of the pool and the surrounding plants and stones.
 |
| Some of the colored pencil sketches of the lily pool. |
No comments:
Post a Comment