TheCreating a Garden Picture Book took a while longer than most of the books for me to complete, several years in fact. Although thinking about it, The Vegie Patch Picture Book, and DVD movies, were delayed by the same contrary weather conditions such as drought, heavy rains and The Big Wet of South East Queensland. The advantage is that although the gardens needed replanting the growth of the trees shows the period of time for viewers. A few trees may be noticed missing, these were lost due to the heavy rains not the drought.
This is a Then and Now book, the before and after of our country garden. All the work is done by my husband, but I'm sure I do some weeding or pruning and bits and bobs when I'm not photographing or painting Gardening is a favourite pastime for many people and older people are especially fond of themed activities of gardening, gardens and flowers. The book is a collection of short, themed stories within the garden. Sequential, step-by-step images are included to support reminiscence of a past hobby and experiences of gardening.
All my books can be used in conjunction with the similar themed movies. This book is perfect to be used as an additional tool after a resident or loved one in care has watched the In the Garden movie/s. It can be used with other garden themed books and crozzles, especially the What Gardeners Do digital crossword on the The Crozzle Collection DVD.
Short visual stories in this book include: - a gardener digging a garden, with before and finished garden photos - a gardener clearing branches - a gardener pruning roses and then the tidy garden - a gardener planting seedlings and then flowers blooming - flowers blooming, birds, insects enjoying beautiful flowers
How relaxing is the scent from lavender? I have been making more lavender scent bags for my next Open Studio weekend. These are featured in my Moments in Lavender themed movies and picture book for people with mid-late stage Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The little bags are lovely to add to my short stories as a gift or as part of a Memory Box activity. Or as a group or individual care activity it is lovely to fill ready-made bags with dried lavender and tie them with pretty bows. I sew mine with double layer chiffon and stitch french seams for security.
As with all my activities, the themed title is just a broad umbrella covering the different scenarios and short stories within each theme. So moments in 'lavender' isn't just about lavender flowers. More info about my themes: http://sharetimepictures.com.au/Themes.php
This is my last Open Studio for a few months so I hope you can make it There are lots of lovely coffee shops and cafes along the Range to visit as well. Maleny is just beautiful and the autumn colours appearing now are wonderful. Unfortunately my studio isn't suitable for wheelchair access due to access being across lawn areas. But you are welcome to visit, stop and smell the roses, and view my books, movies and digital crosswords. I'm always happy to answer any queries about my activities and all my Care Activities have 20% discount for visitors to my studio.
An Invitation - for you - to my Open Studio at Maleny! This is the opportunity to see that I am a real person
January Open Studio/Gallery on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th, 10am to 4pm both days.
Hope you can pop along. I'll have available my Care Activities (Picture Books, Movies and Crozzles) with 20% discount to studio visitors, also gifts, cards, photography and paintings.
This event is part of the Arts Connect Inc. Open Studio Trail across the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in Queensland. More information about my studio, maps and the other artist opening (Chris Blake) is available at the ACI Website: Maps and more information
A Posy of Fresh Flowers with a Beautiful Flower Movie
This is a lovely collection of ideas for a lady in hospital or care. Give a Posey of Fresh Flowers with the relaxing Flower Medley Movie, add some floral Scented Gifts such as talc, soap, hand-cream, perfume, hand towel or scent bag.
Did you know? .... This movie isn't just about flowers.
Neither is it a slide-show of flower photographs. This following paragraph is probably a bit boring if you're not into editing ... So please feel free to skip it!
When I designed this movie I had trouble for months trying to portray my concept into my standard Storyboard format that I've always used (the three images and comments to an A4 page). There was too much info going on in my head for me to capture the continuity. I wanted the complexity of the design but it had to be relaxing to view. In the end I used a drawing board in my studio that was about three metres (yards) wide and a metre high. I was able to layout all my colour vignettes in a row across the board. The nature vignettes I spaced in between these colour sections. I could see the whole movie now, spread out like a massive piece of music. Then I added notes for the abstract transitions and pathway videos in between the colour and nature sections. There also had to be a balance of photography and videography as well. Then I sticky-taped (a professional word) all the pieces in numbered order into bundles for each vignette. On my computer I collated all the flowers into colour folders ready to add to Premiere video editing. If you are familiar with my works for people with dementia you will have noticed that I don't include a lot of red imagery and if I do, I balance it with green tones, and also loud music is edited, the same applies for this movie.
The Result is a Movie that includes:Private and Botanical Gardens - birds - insects - nature - seasons - rain - mist - sunshine - pathways that invite the viewer to wander through the gardens - an occasional garden chair to invite the viewer to sit and enjoy the garden - beautiful, engaging videography and photography presented in vignettes of themed colours enhanced by familiar, relaxing classical music... OH! Yes ... and there are flowers
The Music on this DVD:
Bolero (Paul Ravel) - just the chorus, and it is repeated to introduce the seasons; Waltz from Coppelia (Clément Philibert Léo Delibes); Meditation from Thais (Jules Massenet); The Young Prince and Princess(Rimsky Korsakov); Piano-sonata-opus 27-2-1 (Ludwig van Beethoven); La gioconda - Dance of the Hours (Amilcare Ponchielli); Fantasy in C (Georg Phillip Telemann); Rondo No. 3 in A Minor, K511 (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart); Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. Posth (Frederic Chopin); Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 (Frederic Chopin); La Mer 01. De laube a midi surla mer (Claude Debussy); Nr. XI from Douze Etudes - Pour les arpeges composes (Claude Debussy); la ere gymnopie (Erik Satie); Sonata in F (III) Sicilliana (George Frideric Handel).
Whether you give the movie as a gift or use it for recreational times or as part of an activity program in your care facility, I suggest the inclusion of scented floral items to support reminiscence and engagement.
While primarily designed for care-recipients this DVD movie allows all viewers to experience the joys of a familiar past-time of walking through gardens and park-lands.
Running Time: 43minutes - Advance option at any stage to closing images and music.
Ambient and relaxing and looped for your convenience - therefore it is suitable for day care and aged care facilities, home care, dementia specific units and doctors and dentists waiting rooms.