I'm cheating...

I found a great price for some picture frames the other day, so I bought 2. Now I'm inspired to create some new art, but I'd like to do it quick. And, since my free time is very limited I tried a new technique that I'm very happy with...

...but I really feel like I'm cheating...

The plan is to have a two paintings, one of a male and one a female quail.
I took a photo of a female as she was perched "on lookout". I brought it in to Photoshop and changed levels, saturations, hues, cropped it, and erased unimportant elements... then I did a watercolor filter-a.k.a. the cheating part. Now, I've printed it on watercolor paper, and am inking some outlines and marking certain lowlights by hand. I found another good picture that I had of a male quail and did the same. And now, I have my two great looking faux watercolors!

We have Gambel's Quails visit our yard nearly every day; often with their young families. It is entertaining to watch them with one on a lookout, while the covey searches for seed in the sand. The males are much more decorated and colorful, than the female. They adorn a red cap, usually distinctly pear-shaped, and have a much more pronounced plume on top of their heads. The picture above is the female... with an understated beauty.
:)

Design for the Elderly

Last week, a dear friend came to me with a dilemma from his client. The son of the client was concerned with his aging parents and their accessibility into their home (vacation home). He wanted a ramp but not to have the ramp intrude or over-step the existing landscape. The problem became not only one of aesthetics but also of grading. This sketch shows a proposed sloped path, no greater than a 5% slope at any one point and wide enough for a wheelchair, should they need it. Immediately, though, I was thinking enough for one person pulling a wheeled piece of luggage. AND with the addition of some native Filifera Palms, boulders to retain the soil, and the honed quartzite path (chosen because it's already used as the hardscape around the house, and honed to keep it smooth enough for wheels). The new path flows through like a small creek underneath a mini oasis. The skinny palms, the Washingtonia robustas are existing on site, and would remain to blend with the new native palms.

Planning for elderly mobility is a critical issue for landscape architects; and I suspect, it will become more popular as the baby boomers begin to lose their agility. When my parents (and my grandmother) come to visit, they indirectly (and fairly immediately) show me the mobility issues around my own house. I'm lucky to not be disabled and I know where my steps and handrails are and aren't, BUT my guests aren't as familiar... I want to be sure family and friends are comfortable while visiting. So, even if my client isn't disabled, I will always try to ensure ease of access and circulation through my client's outdoor spaces, if not for them, for their guests.

Site Planning and Design for the Elderly (by Diane Y. Carstens) is a great reference book that is always near my desk. And in this day and age of lawsuits, you can't be too careful in planning for people who are or may become, and even visitors who may be mobility challenged.

Options and more options

Here's quick commissioned rendering/sketch I did over the weekend for another design firm.

While I am not responsible for the design of this residential driveway/gate, they hired me to draw up their design and show options for their client.

I enjoy these little projects. It frees my mind from my current projects, and becomes a simple exercise in taking a plan view design and bringing it into a perspective.

I had some freedom with the column caps, and showed 3 different options. Above you see a precast cap atop the columns, and plinths in the front with aloe pots. Below are the two other options-gotta credit Photoshop again, here! Without redrawing the whole thing, I was able to just draw and scan different caps and put them into the drawing. And for the "all tall" columns, I cut and paste.