Nature speaks

The garden at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA, is awash in greens with an occasional punch of color. The varied textures help me appreciate the mostly monochromatic surroundings and keep my eyes from getting "bored".

This Bird of Paradise first caught my eye in the sea of green, but upon stepping back, the tree spoke to me, too. I almost felt like I was evesdropping on a dialog between the flower and the tree.

Grün, Grün, Grün ...

There is a German children's song that goes "Grün, grün, grün sind alle meine kleider, grün, grün, grün ist alles was ich hab'." Translated roughly it says "Green, green, green is all of my clothing, green green green is everything I have." It's a catchy tune that has been playing in my head the last few days.

I am so taken with how many different shades of green we can find in our immediate surroundings. It'd be easy to describe the immense wall of foliage behind my house as simply green, but there are so many different shades of this grand color, the word "green" seems almost too small. Gazing out my office window on Friday I counted at least six different shades of green in just one direction. Driving home from Lake Nokomis yesterday, I caught myself appreciating how a gorgeous, cloudless blue sky complements the quilt of green blanketing the earth.

I've tried to capture that playful pair of blue and green in these photos, but am a bit disappointed that I haven't exactly captured the true vibrancy I see, or feel, rather. But since this blog is one great experiment anyway, I figure the trying is just as important as the succeeding.

Drawn

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love." Rumi

I found this quote over the weekend in LA at the 10 Women Artists Co-op on Abbot Kinney Blvd. Every wall, nook and cranny of the gallery is filled with the love and labor of 10 female artists, most of whom strolled around the shop that afternoon. I was drawn to the work of Outi Harma right away. Her handmade mugs, vases and paintings are all in vibrant colors like red, turquoise, spring green, sky blue, orange. She had engraved this phrase on numerous items, and it spoke to me - hollered, really.

Flowers like these bright orange blossoms draw me to them like a siren. No matter what else I'm talking or thinking about, I have to stop to inhale their vibrant color. After a long, cold winter in MN, our last two visits to LA joyfully awakened my slumbering senses.

This blog is a commitment to myself to experience - and create - more of what I really love, and to follow that pull in whatever direction it may lead.