PORTFOLIO
ABOUT ME
My name is Patricia Omolola Abiola.
I am passionate about horticulture and the natural environment. My portfolio showcases my creative work as an amateur photographer, focusing on these areas.
It is my goal to gain the knowledge, skills and experience I will need to make a positive impact on our world as a Landscape Architect, at a time of unprecedented challenges due to the climate emergency and ongoing changes in the ways we live.
I have a great appreciation of art and design, and enjoy bringing my ideas of natural planting schemes to life on my allotment. I particularly like designs that incorporate the edible and the ornamental beautifully and naturally.
I have advanced Microsoft Office skills. I use Adobe Lightroom and (to a lesser extent) Adobe Photoshop to process my photographs. I receently completed Beginners Level courses in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign.
PRESENT
I undertook a project entitled 'Present', that aimed to capture the beauty of the trees on Hampstead Heath in London as the seasons changed.
Trees are the lungs of the earth, a much-welcomed presence for many. Their presence can be felt for decadescenturies, even. They are long-lived, vital organisms within ecosystems. They continue to play their part through senescence and after death, providing habitats for wildlife and enriching the soil as they decompose. It would be remiss of me not to mention the importance of trees for sustainable building.
The eight images that follow are testament to the beauty I experienced on Hampstead Heath.
Right: The black and white diptych of naked to leafed branches against the sky is both delicate and powerful.
"If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere."
- Vincent Van Gough
Trees, living and dead, are home to many.
''To be without trees would, most literal way, to be witho our roots.''
- Richard M
NATURE ABOUT TOW
Here, I present images that show the integration of plants into the built environment, where there is blending and contrasting of textures, colours and purpose, serving people and other life forms.
Right: The bridge, Colindale, London.
This is a newly built suspended rope walkway in the children’s play area of a redeveloped North London park. The trees almost appear to support the structure.
King's Cross, London. People enjoying a white ornamental cherrt tree in full bloom. Right: A bird's nest in a tree.
Valencia, Spain.
Above: Strong shadows on the brick wall of a historic structure. It was a sunny day with clear blue skies.
Left: At ground level, there is a clear line of demarcation between the green vegetation and the brown earth.
COMMUNITY ORCHARD
As Chair of my allotment society, I led a project to design a community orchard in North London.
The exciting project combined all the things I love - the natural world and design. I also put my project management skills to use, working with members of the community to draw upon a simple, ecologically sustainable, polyculture design that met the requirements of the client brief. For example, it included beehives and a number of fruit trees on vigorous rootstocks which are long-lived and provide good habitats for wildlife. It also included fruit trees on less vigorous rootstocks that are smaller in size and easier to harvest from. There was also some hard landscaping.
We won a small amount of funding and donations of fruiting trees and shrubs based on the design.
LONDON SKIES
The three images of this series were taken in 2022.
The two images on the pages overleaf are of incredibly beautiful, fiery sunrises in London.
Holly, 2022.
On the day this image was taken, the sky was a solid, dull white.
Right:
FRUIT & VEG
Still life using horticultural growing interest to me.
Fruit and vegetables are fo present two images from entitled 'Fruit & Veg' in 20 them as such - with jewels
Right: Passion, 2023.
Decadence, 2023.
FLOWERS
Right: Sunflower on a sunny day. Photogra I used items of jewellery to create this des
Rosa 'Distant Drums', 2019. The colour of the flower on the right had begun to fade with age. The bloom was host to a beautiful iridiscent beetle that would further damage the petals as it fed.
A pretty poppy, 2022.
