Autumn in Kambatik

Foreground are orange - red flushes of Eugenia oleina, yellow green leaves of the Tabebuia alba with white flowers in the middle ground.
View looking east.

Autumn like colours of the Eugenia oleina flushes
Stretch of road along Zone B

Red flushes of the Ceylon Ironwood tree (Mesua ferrea) at the foreground, with Eugenia oleina flushes in the background
Location : Zone C

Light yellow flushes of the Mango tree at right, mixed with Eugenia oleina flushes at foreground and background.
Location: Zone G

All images taken today - 22 Jan'15

Provinsi Lady Palm in sketch

Provinsi Lady Palm
Mixed Media, on sketch paper 18 x 25 cm

There is a certain airiness to the place.  Lots of shade and yet the diffused light cast many interesting bright spots on the lawn.  All around the lawn is mixed vegetation.  The main ornamental tree is the Pong-Pong (Cerbera odollam) and in the middle of the picture is a fruit of the Pong-Pong hanging like a green apple.  The heliconia shrubs add much needed colour in their orange bracts.  Two oil palm trees provide visual perspective.  It is nice to have a walk through the area for its diversity.   The steps behind the oil palm tree in the background leads to the Botanic Island One.

Bamboo shoot as energy metaphor

Yellow Bamboo - Schizostachyum brachycladum
This  bamboo is  native to Borneo

 You need to be an artist to recognize the energy power of the bamboo shoot.  Bamboos belong to the grass family (Gramineae) from which the big family is divided into two sub-amilies :- bamboos and bamboo grasses.  The are many clumps of this yellow bamboo grown at the park.  It is interesting to notice that its young shoot has to thrust itself from below the ground to gradually stand straight. From this raw power when noticed young in a few species are the edible shoots.  These are severed from the main clump, cut and cooked thus providing us with energy.  More significantly however is how Latiff Mohidin , a Malaysia artist sees in bamboo shoot  the energy metaphor.

"Stupas" by Latiff Mohidin
Ink, 13.5 x 8.5 cm ( Bangkok, 1964)

 For Latiff Mohidin, the bamboo shoot provided a natural motif symbolizing much energy.  In a series of  early artworks done in Bangkok in the early 1960's, he captured the energy movement in creative expression and the transformation that ensued in his studies called the 'Pago-Pago' series.  His use of earthly colours helped re-enforced the natural dynamics of the metamorphosis process.  The painting in mixed media entitled 'Pago-Pago' is iconic of Latiff Mohidin's interpretation of the bamboo shoot as metamphor for the energy movement or process in creative expression and transformation.

Top : Metamorphosis 1 ( Ink on Graph Paper, 7.5 x 16 cm ; Bangkok, 1964)
Bottom : Metamorphosis 2 ( Mixed media, 12.5 x 23cm; Bangkok, 1965)

Pago-Pago ( Mixed media, 26 x 18.5 cm; Bangkok, 1964)

(Note: All the illustrations above are taken from the book,"Line - from point to point , Latiff Mohidin) , published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur, 1993)

Leave the grasses alone

Zone B, view looking west

 Swathes of grass cover are important in many respects.  At the park, its is an integral part of the design philosophy.  Firstly, the low mass of thick green cover are an important hideout and safe passage for the Samba deers that visit the park during the night.  The grasses produce seeds that are an important source of food to birds e.g. the pipits.  The dried grass blades and stems are used by birds to build their nests.  The swampy areas where grasses thrive and remain uncut are nesting grounds for such lovely birds like the White-breasted water hen.  In terms of cultural practice management, the presence of grass reserves tremendously save time and resources in keeping them untouched rather than the costly practice of grasscutting them weekly or monthly or even killing them with weedicide.  The grass blades and stems provide perches for small insects like dragonflies and butterflies.  Finally in landscaping aesthetics, the bold wash of light greenery provides soft buffer or  transition to the ground floor.  This helps soften the eye view and enhance compositional perspectives as the eye moves from a richly textured column of leaves above to the even and finely cut lawn at the ground level, thus making the watching experience pleasurable.

Zone B, view looking south

Zone F, view looking south

Swathes of grass cover at the ground storey, oil palm trees at middle storey and exotic fruit trees at top storey in the landscape composition.