Can you imagine a better venue for a botanical art exhibit than Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island? This calm and gorgeous garden, with its moss, Japanese, naturalistic and hedged garden (among others) offers a quintessential nature and garden experience....and from May 12 through June 30, you'll be able to enjoy plants indoors, too. Representations of them, anyway, when Bloedel hosts watercolors, colored pencil and graphite drawings by members of the Pacific Northwest Botanical Artists group. Eleven different artists have contributed 37 botanical works...all will be on sale, along with notecards and prints.
And you no longer need reservations to visit Bloedel Reserve. But don't get distracted over a long lunch in Winslow as friends did recently, showing up at 4 p.m. to tour Bloedel and find the gates closing. Hours are 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; starting in June, the Reserve will be open until 7:00 p.m. Thursday through Sunday evenings.
Wear comfortable shoes, bring a sweater, plan to stay for several hours...Bloedel is an experience to savor. My favorite spots are looking down on the Japanese garden from the deck of the teahouse, wandering through the primeval-feeling moss garden, and the quiet, sophisticated hush of the hedged pond garden...oh, and the nature sanctuary, and the library in the Visitor Center....you can see why you'll need to allow at least half a day to do the place justice...
Check out Bloedel's web page for details and directions. If you'd like more information about the art exhibit, call or email Programs and Communication Director Kate Gormley at 206-842-7631; kgormley@bloedelreserve.org.
This exquisite painting of a geranium is by water colorist and art teacher Kathleen McKeehen of Indianola, one of the eleven artists with work on display in the elegant Residence Visitor Center.
Comments