November 2005 Archives

We are getting ready to mail out our 2006 Gardens of Europe Calendar. The Calendar features my photographs from my travels in Europe in 2003, many of which can be seen in our Great Gardens and Parks Portfolios. If you would like a free copy of the calendar please send us an email with your name and address.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

The Cover

Some of the Monthly Images

I attended the opening night of Oil + Wax this weekend, an encaustic art exhibition put on by the Art League of Northern California. For those unfamiliar with encaustic, it is an ancient technique whereby the artist applies layers of wax and pigments to create a composition. The work may look like a traditional oil painting (at least to my untrained eye), or can be applied to three dimensional objects. This national exhibit with contributions of local artists is excellent. It is located at the League's building in Hamilton in Novato, now thru November 30th.(check their website for directions).

For more:
Fayum Mummy Portraits- An Example of Ancient Encaustic Art from Wikipedia
Encaustic.com

Example of Fayum Mummy Portraits (Portrait of a young woman, A.D. 110-20 Encaustic on wood; 43.7 x 34 cm (17 1/4 x 13 in.)Royal Museum of Scotland, National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh)-Source Wikipedia

Around the Bay Area and Marin check out these websites for some interesting garden (and other) related events.

Strybing Arboretum Events

SF Sierra Club Events 

California Native Plant Society Events

Marin County Visitor's Events

Pacific Horticulture Events

Marin ReLeaf Events

Marin Rose Society Events

Marin Photography Club

Marin County UC Extension Master Gardener- Community Service Events

Mediterranean Garden Society Events

Marin Society of Artists Events

Marin Art and Garden Center

Marin IJ Calendar of Events

Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy Calendar

The Garden Conservency

Marin Bonsai Club

Marin Magazine Events

Pacific Sun Events

Marin Organic Association Events

See Trees like this one at Marin ReLeaf's fall color tour

After spending part of this weekend visiting friends in the Healdsburg area and visiting various wineries for the Russian River Wine Road Food and Wine Festival, I was struck by what a good resource wineries are for landscape inspiration. Where else could you find estate sized gardens, well articulated, with typically free admission and free wine to boot? Now obviously for readers outside of a wine region this may be less of a possibility. Luckily for Bay Area residents we live on the doorstep of the great wine regions of Sonoma County.

Winery gardens vary in their scope and style, but many tend to be of Mediterranean/Italianate villa inspiration and incorporate fountains, outdoor dining areas, and a wide variety of plants and materials. For smaller residences the budget may not be the same as a large winery, but cues for stylistic elements abound.

For more:
Healdsburg Area Wineries
Sonoma County Wineries Assocation

Posted by Michael O'Connell at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)