Monday, March 1, 2010

The Bridge in Deep Dene Park was completed recently as a donation to the OLPA (Olmsted Linear Park Alliance) auction to benefit the restoration and continued maintenance of one of the nations greatest treasures. The Linear Parks designed by the most famous landscape architect to have ever practiced Fredrick Law Olmsted is indeed a triumph of landscape design. Over two miles long and located in Historic Druid Hills in Atlanta it is one of only a few places Olmsted designed in the south including the Biltmore in Asheville, NC. Once neglected and actually slated for destruction by the Georgia Department of Transportation in the 1980's, the parks became a rallying cry for the neighborhood and some 15 years later they have been completely restored and provide the last complete linear park he designed still in existence. Many new amenities have been added over the years all included in the original design but never completed until now which provide bucolic spaces for the public to sit and relax or walk its entire length.

Deep Dene is the easternmost segment of the parks and the only completely natural space. Olmsted in his design wisdom realized that this area was a major drainage catchment and instead of paving around it let it remain natural to provide absorption for run-off. It to this day still functions as designed and has been updated to work even better.

This painting utilizing gauche and watercolor contains over 12 washes and I experimented with a new technique to create the woodland effect. A few more tries and I think it'll be a wonderful technique.

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