The Incredible Whiteness of Spring

 

  

I've been thinking lately that if spring could have a sound,it would be soprano; high and  delicate. A note that is not held long but is clear and pure. That's what the flowers of spring remind me of. Spring flowers don't hang around for very long. This white Spirea seems to deteriorate while I look at it. It's fugitive; the flowers on their way to  becoming sturdy leaves.

 And how about that white clematis armandii? Does it have a powerful, sweet scent or what? I have a few flowers by my kitchen sink and the sweet, heavy scent almost knocks me over. Maybe I'm just taking in a floral curative. As I'm interested in all matters related to plants, I was curious what the Bach Flower Company had to say about the clematis. 

Bach flower remedies are extreme dilutions of flower material developed by Edward Bach, an English homeopath, in the 1930s. Bach believed that dew found on flower petals retain healing properties of that plant. The remedies are intended primarily for emotional and spiritual conditions, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, insomnia and stress.

Here's a partial description of what the Bach company has to say about the clematis flower:

"Clematis personalities are extremely creative and imaginative and do well in occupations such as music, fashion design, journalism, and film-making. However, when their creativity cannot be put to good use, they fall into the negative Clematis state - where their energies can take the form of exaggerated romanticism, delusions, and various kinds of eccentricity.


You may recognize a person in need of treatment with this Bach flower therapy by their dreamy look - an unfocused gaze and an attitude of slight confusion. Because they are never fully focused on the present, they have poor memories and little sense of detail. They simply can't take the time to listen well enough to absorb things". 

Yeah, pretty out there, I know. There is so much we don't understand in this rather unexplored world of our relationship to plants. They feed & heal our bodies. They heal and uplift our souls through their beauty. Why not our spirits?

Love to ya'll

 
"River" Usually sepia toned, but rose tinted for Valentine's Day. From a series of paintings on wild orchids from around the world. Watercolor on bamboo.

Pave Class

Here are the beautiful results from this weekend's Pave' Class. Pave's are easy to put together.They look deceptively simple, but sometimes simplicity is as difficult to achieve as complexity. And they can be so varied in the result that I think I've become even more hooked on them. 

One of the arrangements was made by 11 year old Gabriela who came with her grandmother. What a good eye she has. Now if we can only get some men in our class! 

Congratulations all!

We have this thing

Don't know what it's called. Jon remembers it being pulled out for serving holiday meals when he was a kid; maybe holding cranberry sauce and what else? The containers are small and shallow. In the spirit of the upcoming Pave' class I pulled it out from the dark recesses of the closet. You know, the one that holds things that almost never get used.  In the past I've looked at it from time to time and sort of winced at it and slid it back in. Too fussy for my tastes. Those fickle tastes, always changing. I don't know if it will get used for food (hmmm. maybe a barbeque?), but I sure love it as a Pave' container.

I made this pretty fast. The anemones left over from another project were springing open and I wanted to catch them. Taping was fast and it shows. So forgive the craftsmanship this time. I wanted it to get from me to you.