Day THREE | A Trip to Japan

Another morning of a phenomenal breakfast guaranteed a solid day of Savanna Studio activities. We jumped in the vans bright and early and headed off to our first stop, Tower Grove Park. We both were in Gary’s van and attempted to lighten the mood with some quality music, which was almost instantly shut off when we hit the road.

The Ruins at Tower Grove Park

When we got to Tower Grove Park, we gathered in a massive pavilion near the parking lot to show off our fabulous scorecard assignment from Citygarden Park. After our group presentations, Gary lectured about plants and talked about a transect project we would soon be working on. We then took a break and threw giant Osage-orange multiples the size of softballs around, to get rid of some built up energy.  When we were done with that, we started on our next assignment. Our charge was to pick three sites, and draw them integrated together on a two-page spread, using pencil and colored pencil. Both of us went straight to the ruins near one of the larger ponds. After searching for the right spot, we plopped down at the edge of the pond and started drawing, only distracted for a little bit by the four cute ducks swimming around. The ruins around the pond were unlike any built work we had seen, so naturally it drew a majority of the class to its edge, in hopes of capturing some of its majestic beauty.

We did a quick lay down before heading out for lunchtime in the streets of St. Louis.

Creek at Japanese Garden in the Botanical Gardens

After lunch, the caravan traveled down the street to the Missouri Botanical Garden. Michael Martin gave a quick lecture about the gardens, and then we got our charge! Since the two of us are basically the same person, we tend to go to the same places a lot. We joined up with Nate and David (our Pow Wow buddies) and ventured off into the garden. We wandered around for a while and took pictures before we picked an area to sketch. After gaping at the massive Koi fish in the Japanese Garden pond, we spread out along one of the paths to find an unknown plant to sketch. We reconvened, and walked closer to the pond to find the ultimate watercolor site. Devon and Nate produced some excellent watercolors, but Emily’s was less than epic, eventually turning it into an abstract, fun filled watercolor.

Make a wish!

After our eventful afternoon, everyone met up to plan the evening. The three directions everyone headed were the art supply store (a necessity for any design student on the road), the hotel, and the local Goodwill…in search for the ultimate Halloween costume. 

Because it was our fellow students birthday, we celebrated later that night with some cake, music (provided by a number of talented piano players in savanna studio), and wonderful company. It was a great end to an eventful day. 

Happy Birthday Kaci!

Emily and Devon