The pressuer builds up

Five weeks completed and the pressure is starting to build. Project work is the biggest issue, as at the moment there just isn't enough time to learn all the technical computer stuff and then put it into practice. I really feel I could have done with the (now cancelled) earlier sessions on Google SketchUp as I am struggling with software that I have never tackled before. And what about power point. The time line project seems straight forward enough and goodness knows I have enough reference material at my finger tips but coming to grips with software that I haven't used for ages and on windows vista is proving a huge challenge. Moan, moan, moan.....

On a lighter note the session on Friday was excellent and much more related to the RHS Horticulture course I completed last year. The visit to Orchard Dean Nursery was wonderful, the sun shone so that I was able to get more autumn photos. Chris (the owner) was so enthusiastic that the prospect of a drive home in Friday night traffic paled into insignificance.

More photos were added to my stock with a visit to RHS Whisley on Sunday. Again the weather was perfect and with the extra hour due to the clocks going back, I arrived quite early and got the best of the place before it was over run with loads of visitors.

The gardens are fabulous at this time of year - well worth for anyone who thinks that autumn in the garden is dull.

Off to tackle more SketchUp now - hopefully the session tomorrow will shed loads more light on the subject!

The first CRIT

Four weeks into the course and look what arrives - the first crit. As an adult it is really daunting to pin your precious work up in front of the rest of the group and the tutors. I really can apreciate how my own students have felt over the last few years. Sorry guys if I was anything other than kind and constructive.

Really nervous about the whole process so decided to get my crit out of the way in the first batch so that I could relax and take note of everyone elses work and hopefully get more inspiration than just the feedback from my own crit.

The whole process wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, although having the tutor draw over my 'beautiful' drawing was a bit difficult to get my head around. Next time I will photocopy the work before the session so that I can see the before and after images.

The outcome is loads of adjustments to be made so hours and hours of work before going back to the studio next week. And not only drawings to re-do but a major effort to master sketchup, photograph autumn gardens, get together images for a time line, down load and digest notes and the list goes on and on!!!

Three weeks into the course

Absolutely ages since the last blog because I have been inundated with work. I have just spent a couple of hours downloading vast quantities of photographs of any thing I have that might be useful for the garden design course. All this is going to be vastly edited in picasa - a free software package from google. This probably means that almost all of it will be deleted as being of dubious quality or not appropriate for the seasonal photographs that I need. Hopefully I will end up with at least a handful of images I can then play around with and eventually end up with one of pictures that I am satisfied with. All the tuition from Wednesday will be majorly put to the test over the next few days, so what this space for some 'wonderful' pictures to come.