Into the Hills

The hinterland town of Tamborine Village, perched high above the rolling hills of Mount Tamborine, plays host to 5,000 permanent residents and an endless flow of tourists. Settlement is centred here in three village communities: North Tamborine, Eagle Heights and Mount Tamborine. Crisp mountain air mingles with the aromas of coffee, local wine and beer, while friendly chatter is exchanged alongside fresh produce sourced directly from the farm gate.

With its breathtaking scenery and mountain views, Tamborine has become a haven for creatives: painters, crafts people, writers, and photographers. Fine chefs also ensure the cooking and eating opportunities are second to none. This entire vibrant community thrives on its creativity and inclusiveness.

Located on South East Queensland’s Scenic Rim, the name, Tamborine, has nothing to do with the musical instrument. Its origins were derived from a local Aboriginal word, Goombirren which means ‘wild lime.’ No doubt this refers to the finger lime trees that grow abundantly on the mountain and form a staple food in the Aboriginal diet. 

Gardening is a much loved pastime and magnificent spreads of flowers, fruit trees and vegetable patches abound. A beautiful collection of dahlias grows in the back garden of St Bernards Hotel and is always a special delight to visit. In addition to several hectares of manicured lawns and colourful garden beds, St Bernards is a genuine historic hotel, established in the 1880s. Its mountain top site offers magnificent views of Guanaba Gorge and the Gold Coast. The dining rooms also serve fabulous food, seven days a week.

It may be only an hour’s drive from Brisbane, but Tamborine Mountain makes you feel as though you have entered a magical world far away. With its stunningly beautiful national parks and rain forests, this picturesque area in the Scenic Rim is home to some of the most fertile land in Queensland. A host of accommodation offers misty mountain views, where we enjoyed our morning coffee from the veranda of our cottage. Watching the sunshine slowly burn off a cloud of morning mist has remained a cherished memory.

If you ever visit, pack a camera. You’ll be needing it!

 

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There’s Nothing Like A Rose

Mother Earth offers us a rich banquet of beautiful trees, foliage and flowers for our enjoyment. In the loveliest time of our year—late spring to early summer—we anticipate and welcome the blossoming of our amazing roses. Over the years I have photographed many of these Australian  blooms, in their natural habitats and individually as floral portraits. The following gallery showcases six of these roses adorned in all their glory. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

 

“What a lovely thing a rose is!”
Arthur Conan Doyle

 

“A thorn defends the rose,
harming only those who would
steal the blossom”
Chinese Proverb

 

 

“The rose is a flower of love.”
Anon

 

“A rose must remain with the sun and the rain,
or its lovely promise won’t come true.”
Ray Evans

 

“A rose is without explanation;
she blooms because she blooms.”
Angelus Selisius

 

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Our September Spring

as spring arrives
our hearts expand
like peach blossoms

spring sings
as daisies awaken
to a warm sun

flaming tree –
nature’s spring paintbox
a red dazzler

 

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On a Blue Note …

(a corn flower, also known as the bachelor’s button)

At last, its finally arrived! Our long awaited spring has blest us with sun-drenched days, and a cacophony of bright blooms decorating gardens, shrubs and trees everywhere. While meeting with friends at a garden centre cafe, we exclaim over the palette of yellow, orange, red, pink, purple and white blossoms on display. Then one of us poses a question that makes everyone stop and think. ‘Why are there so few blue flowers here? Is it because nature doesn’t produce them?’

I venture a reply. ‘There are many blue flowers available for the garden from deep royale blue to a pale pastel blue. Do a Google search for “blue flowers” and you’ll be surprised at what’s on show.’

Below I have listed several blue flowers I really love. They include the blue hydrangea, the morning glory, the statice, and the iris.

Last but not least is my very favourite blue flower, the Himalayan Blue Poppy. Once you have seen it, you will never forget its heavenly shade of blue.

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Nature Becomes Fine Art

Several  years ago I experienced the pleasure of participating in a 3 week workshop. The program featured Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. This art form involves so much more than simply putting flowers in a vase as it is steeped in the philosophy of developing a love of nature while working in a meditative way.

Ikebana is finally being acknowledged as a form of fine art as it qualifies in the same sense that painting and sculpture do. This practice has a long recorded history; it is supported by articulate theories and is concerned with aesthetics and creativity. In my search for the workshop, the only place it was  offered was at the Brisbane Institute of Art.

 

Ikebana unfolds in its creative process within certain rules of construction. Its materials are living branches, leaves, grasses and blossoms. At its heart lies the beauty resulting from colour combinations, natural shapes, graceful lines, and the meaning within the total form of the arrangement. It is disciplined, refined, uncluttered  and fulfills the dictum that ‘less is more.’ And what a joy it is to work creatively with living forms of nature.

 

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My Final Post

Dear friends, writers and fellow bloggers,

Regretfully this will be my final blog post to Nature as Art and Inspiration. I began writing this blog in 2012 and to date I have published weekly. As my 81st birthday has recently come and gone and the constraints of time are upon me, I have decided that  the day has arrived to hang up my blogger’s hat. Nature as Art and Inspiration will remain online but no new material will be added. While its creation has been a labour of love and brought me great joy, the time has come to pursue other activities.

I have enjoyed meeting so many of you through your inspiring blog posts. May your endeavours continue to attract new followers. I’d like to express my thanks to WordPress for providing an internet platform for us to meet and share our creative work. It has all been great fun!

Thank you for supporting this blog.
My best wishes to each and all for your continued success.

Mary Mageau
Writer

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Reaping Your Annual Reward

In nature, annuals appear in open spaces as they grow, bloom and set seed within one short season. Annuals give gardeners great flexibility, particularly when gaps appear after spring flowering plants all finish their show and have been cut back. Many annuals come into season in late spring or late summer, to fill these spaces with a vibrant display of colour. As one example – Flander’s poppies provide a touch of brilliant scarlet to energize a tired garden. The poppy range also includes colours of pink, yellow, salmon and white.

For an aesthetic garden design, different shapes and styles of annuals include: fluffs, spikes, discs, and climbers. One example of a fluff is Queen Anne’s Lace, with its wde heads of delicate white flowers. These beauties can quickly fill a space and are easy to cultivate.

Spikes include snapdragons and larkspurs that display tall spires of double flowers, together with the elegantly vertical hollyhock, so much loved by our grandmothers.

For disks, think of sunflowers, that thrive in summer’s heat, together with multi-coloured field flowers and daisies.

Climbers like sweet peas only require a little support to help them reach for the sky, while nasturtiums gain the top then cascade down in a symphony of yellow, orange and red.

Despite their many useful qualities, annuals have been overlooked by gardeners today, who often favour the formal garden bed. Yes, annuals are large and bright, but they bridge the gap into autumn beautifully. And who knows – in time annuals may even become fashionable once again.

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About Spring

“I must have flowers,
always, always and always”.

Claude Monet

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Photo/Prose Reflections

“And the day came
when the risk it took
to remain tight inside a bud
was more painful
than the risk it took
to blossom.”

Anais Nin

(I incorrectly appropriated this quotation to Anais Nin. My thanks to Steve Schwartzman for bringing it to my attention. This Risk poem has been written by Elizabeth Appell.)

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Botanicals to Colour

Black & white image from ‘Botanicals‘ by Lisa Congdon

Who doesn’t love to colour? As children we probably spent hours curled up on a rug with our crayons and colouring books. Now adults are also getting in on the act and going colouring crazy, thanks to its well-known therapeutic properties. With dozens of stylish adult colouring books available, this is becoming a perfect way to relax after a hard day’s work. Colouring is also a creative antidote to staring for hours at a computer screen or mobile phone.

Colouring is the new meditation, as some teachers use this practice to focus, relax and maintain a state of mindfulness. Colouring is a simple and inexpensive stress buster. By focusing attention on something different—engaging mental, physical and emotional states—one will automatically relax and regenerate.

All major book sellers carry beautiful art activity colouring books. These are printed on high-quality drawing paper featuring perforated pages for easy removal and framing. Many themed color-in pages are accompanied by an inspirational quote. There is also an abundance of single A4 size sheets available to download for free. Just use your search engine to find them.

Colour can be applied by using crayons, coloured pencils, paint, or colouring pens. I prefer the latter: pens produced in a rainbow of colours and hues by Faber – Castell on 0.3mm and at the top of the market, those produced by Staedtler (Lumocolour permanent) at 0.6mm. There are no rules to follow—choose any combination of colours you like—then relax, have fun, become a little kid again, and enjoy playing with colour.

Almost finished – see below.

 

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