-
Berliner love
Hoping to see the rhododendron grove in bloom again, we went to Britzer Garten on a mostly cloudy Saturday. We found many rhododendrons and azalea blossoms, but many buds as well.
A shrub full of reddish flowers close to the entrance caught my eye, and to my delight there was a bench across the path, so after we looked at the rest of the grove I went back to the seat to sketch the composition of pink among the greenery. As I drew, the sun came out and made the leaves of the trees glow.
Along came two older ladies and told us these were the “Berliner Liebe” hybrid cultivation, planted there for the opening of the federal garden show in 1985. That was one of those nice little chats that adds important details to my memory of this piece of art.
-
Urban sketcher
I finally seem to have committed to the habit of drawing outside daily. For the past week I’ve been getting out of the apartment every day and sketching – even watercolor painting – the scenes in front of me. The longer days of the season give me the time I need to get out after work and on weekends; my mini palette of Roman Szmal watercolor paint provides the pigments.
I’m trying to find different compositions to keep things interesting so I can continue the practice until the habit sticks for good. This past week I’ve been to a big variety of places (links to posts on my micro blog): Unter den Linden/Bebelplatz, Forum Museumsinsel/Neue Synagogue, Britzer Garten/Tulipan, my corner square, the food court at Alexa mall, a Julian Lage concert at Huxley’s Neue Welt, and Reichstag, the seat of Bundestag, the German parliament.
Looking for upcoming squares to sit and draw in Berlin, I found one that’s fully new to me – Körnerpark in Neukölln – with wonderful old growth trees in a new baroque setting. Today I sat there on a side bench in the leafy shade facing the lawn full of park-goers and sketched the Orangerie area under a prominent tall platane.
A new – short – work week begins in the morning. I wonder what I’ll see and sketch on the coming evenings…
-
Dusk street
Fernsehturm over Oranienburger Str at dusk -
Clouds April 2026
April 2026 -
1 day, 4 million tulips
Last week we travelled to Den Haag in the Netherlands to visit the city and the nearby massive tulip park Keukenhof↗︎. On a sunny, mild Wednesday we joined tens of thousands of people to view the millions of flowers and old growth greenery of a place that’s only open less than two months every spring. Despite the crowds we were able to enjoy a peaceful 5 hours strolling around the grounds, our phones at the ready to take picture after picture.
I didn’t want to leave without using the drawing supplies I carried with me, so I was overjoyed when we found the best quiet place to sit in a little corner of benches near the lake, where I could sketch the rows of flowers in front of me. After that we spent a couple more hours making our way to the exit.
-
Floral neighborhood
It’s becoming a new habit to get out on midday walks (often in the sun), now especially interesting with the blooming nature all around and the welcome return of green leaves and bees.
Categories: NatureTags: bees, Color green, Color pink, Color purple, Color yellow, flowers, gallery, photos, trees, walks -
Garden blossoms
This weekend is Cherry Blossom Festival at Gärten der Welt↗︎. We braved the crowds on an evening visit after the festivities and waited for our turn to view the Japanese Garden with fully blooming cherry trees in the remaining sunlight. Afterwards I was able to sit and sketch the centerpiece in the Seoul Garden entrance area (although I had to wait to continue as a group of cosplayers got in the way for a short while once my composition was started).
-
Forsythia walk
This afternoon I took a neighborhood walk looking at all the forsythia in bloom. They’re everywhere – I even found a front yard block full of them, all in direct sunlight, around a corner I don’t get to often.
The maple trees have sprouted their green blossoms, and some small-flower cherry trees are bright pink. The tulips are glowing tall, and a tiny flowering peach tree waits for passersby.
Categories: NatureTags: Color green, Color pink, Color red, Color yellow, colors, flowers, gallery, photos, trees, walks -
Clouds March 2026
March 2026 -
Nelly in the box
The cats are taking turns resting in this box Minutes after posting, Champi wants to take his turn