If you are looking for quiet inspiration, visit Van Dusen gardens in the Spring. The crowds are not yet there, but the flowering trees and bushes are beautiful. If the rain has just stopped falling, walk up to the waterfall area and breathe in the fresh woods smell.

Over the park’s 55 acres, there is enough space to get a good scenic walk or to find a quiet bench. Photographers, painters and sketchers can be spotted throughout.

Your visit will likely start and end in the LEED Platinum Certified Living Building, designed by Busby Perkins + Will with landscape architect, Cornelia Oberlander. Inside, you can walk through artist exhibitions inspired by the gardens. Until April 3rd, you will find Botanically Inspired Stitches – quilts curated by the Fraser Valley Quilters Guild.

Spring by Robin Fischer
‘This was made for one of our guild challenges. It is machine appliquéd and quilted. The butterfly is thread sketched separately & then sewn on.’

Remembering by Judy Leslie
‘Remembering is a tribute to my mother-in-law. This is the last plant that she knowingly gave me before she succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease. I enlarged the tiny blossoms of the ornamental houseplant Capsicum annum. This piece is painted with fabric paints, heavily thread painted and quilted.’

“Fischer’s Garden Paradise” by Robin Fischer
This was made from a photo taken in our garden. It was sent to a quilt challenge in Australia. It is machine appliquéd and quilted. It is hand beaded.

Written by Elizabeth Newton
www.creatorsvancouver.com