Toronto Botanical Gardens -- Awesome!

     Last weekend I was teaching at the Toronto Botanical Gardens, through the Ontario Plein Air Society. What an awesome place to paint--and outstanding weather as well. To top it all off, we saw so many wedding parties! I guess this is a popular place to have your wedding photos done, as well as to get married. So there was this celebratory mood in the air as princess flower girls and well dressed attendees roamed around in buoyant moods.
     This is my time of year, to be outside as much as possible, painting whatever comes up. Of course the reds have just come out, so we must hightail it now, as they won't last long. At the gardens, there were some spectacular reds, including several varieties of Maple trees, -and the true-est red I have ever seen. I don't know how well it will come across, but check this out:
 

For those of you reading this in Toronto, this tree is just behind the main building, so go check it out-It won't last long and it is Beautiful!
       As a venue this place has so much to offer, There's lots of opportunity for good and easy composing with paths, and much contrast in colours. You can walk some of the many paths. If you go down into the valley, you are then connected to one park after another, that stretches a good long way across the city. This is what I love about Toronto. If you get into the Don or Humber river valleys, you wan walk or bike such long distances. How nice for city folks to have this option.
      Down in these valleys, there are never ending bridges, pathways and interesting flowers and other plant life. Willow trees! Waterfalls even, and a watermill. All in the middle of the city.
      Another thing I got a kick out of was the parking donation machines. So parking is free, but they have these machines that look just like the ones you pay into in any city for parking, except they say "donation station" on them. What a nice way to make people feel welcome.
     

Of course flowers galore for those inclines- me! We plein air painters value flowers for their pure colour and obvious contrast to all the greens.

This waterfall is bigger than it looks in this photo

Natural scenery, right in the middle of Toronto

An abundance of colour, flowers, growth,..now how to use this information in a painting? Hmmm...

Potted plants make drawing and definition easier.

The reds have begun!

Thanks to my students for making this an awesome experience. You can learn more about the Toronto botanical Gardens by going to their website: 

http://torontobotanicalgarden.ca/

Cheers for now.