Three seconds at Sunrise

 

The yellow rose of Columbia

It was a risky purchase. Roses from Columbia from a vendor at the Flower Mart whose flowers aren't always reliable. That's why folks: its best to buy from a source you trust, buy locally grown when you can, or pick it from your garden- where the rest of my materials came from. 


Despite all the floral tricks I tried, these tight yellow buds remained closed and silent for many a day. First it was the potential that they would open. Next I just appreciated them for their closed selves.

Trunk show at Yogaworks

Very warm temps at the yoga studio made these bouquets spring open at a rate not to be missed. Live and learn.

This is not the Pieta

I'm currently rereading the biography of  sculptor and artist Michelangelo by Irving Stone. Why am I rereading it? Because it was the book I chose to put under my ailing cat Ruby's food dish, so that- you know, she didn't have to bend her neck down so far to eat. When the time came that she didn't need it anymore, why not be absorbed by reading about the life of someone other than my sad self.

This time around, I'm fascinated by the descriptions of working marble. Marble sculpture is not a medium I've given a lot of thought to, nor Michelangelo's work, though I bow to his dedication and genius. His love of stone and for working the material is so compelling. Marble has a grain like wood. To work it is to know it's structure intimately. He would assess marble when the morning sun would hit it just so, to be able to see into it's translucent mass. Imagine chipping at marble, how to find the point of entry to make it's crystal structure penetrable. Where are my chisels? Surely there's a chunk on marble lying around here someplace!

 It's gotten me thinking about white surfaces with an organic quality. And while I debate whether to try my hand at carving marble, this is abalone table and can remind me of the glowing quality of marble.

Paintings gone pink

Life vacillates between painting flowers, arranging them, and raising  a few in my  garden- sometimes it feels like life is 100% plants, 100% of the time.  

I've tweaked these sepia paintings on bamboo into note cards for the day of Love into an extremely pinkish mode.

These are native orchids. I wanted to call attention to them as they usually get overshadowed by their hybridized cousins. I visit a greenhouse in Pacifica, CA to photograph and sketch them.The orchid family kind of gets under your skin. They are so damn exotic and erotic. It's interesting but not surprising then, that men seems as drawn to them as women. 

Still minimal

The last photo shoot proved that I still haven't mastered my camera.  So here are some past photos while on the theme of the using plant materials sparingly in interesting containers. Here in northern California we are already stepping into the spring season. Fruit blossoms and mimosa are starting to pop. I thought I'd move into spring slowly and say goodbye to winter. I've lived in the East and true West (California is the far (out) West) and know spring is a ways away there.

So I'm thinking about ya'll.