This is a place that is quite close to home for me, and I probably do not go often enough for how close it is. I do like going when they have craft fairs or exhibitions on there, but this visit was just a research trip to gather images.
The botanic gardens are a showcase of the best wildlife and plants from around the world, the pond at the front I thought was very inspiring, it was full of different plants and looked quite natural. As we walked further we found a lot of very interesting looking flowers and plants, especially when we got into the large domed glasshouse.
The flowers were so colourful and even the leaves presented really interesting and unique shapes and colours within them. I found some colours that I really thought were not able to be produced naturally such as very vibrant blues and pinks, traditionally colours that we do not associate with the earthy greens and warm browns we find in nature, so I did love this side of the research.
There was also a butterfly house and in full summer the bees were out collecting pollen as well, I managed to get a few photos of these before they flew off too which is something I found very difficult when I was trying to do the same by lakes and ponds with dragonflies.
We were lucky enough to witness a bird of prey flying show while we were there, I found it so interesting seeing the birds so up close and the different patterns in which they fly. I thought about how this could be translated into a pattern which I thought would be really interesting, such as adding spots behind the motif across the fabrics to show the pattern in which it flies.
Overall this was a very interesting visit for research, it gave me inspiration in nature and natural botanics, as well as insects and birds, so I knew I had a lot to think about as to which way i could like to take my research to focus down on one thing specifically.
Tahlia Paige 