Color Cheer from Friends
In the words of the famed artist David Hockney, " Nobody can cancel spring. Nature just goes on relentlessly, I am glad to say."
My sentiments exactly. In fact, I've spent the spring in my garden, not writing blogs on my computer, sooo I'm delayed in getting this post out. Summer is already upon us! Yet I imagine, you, like me, are always cheered by beautiful images of spring's offerings.
Nature nurtures and restores me daily, especially during this precarious time. I'm finding that nature's a balm to my friends as well.
I asked friends to send me some color thingy that inspires them and to tell me why.
No surprise, most of the color photos I received were shots of Mother Nature. Horticulturist Allison Pittman took the photo above. See her commentary below and make sure to check out her gorgeous images with informative commentary on Instagram: allisonpittman.nc
The stool belonged to my grandfather. I found it down in his basement after he passed away. And I whipped this ‘floral art on a stool’ as garden therapy for myself, to be honest. It was a struggling day virtual schooling with my son. He was just not into it.
My friend Linda P, has a magical native garden in Santa Monica, CA. She's been offering her gorgeous flowers to her neighbors.
Meanwhile in Holland, my friend Amanda Cushman and her Dutch husband, Herman, were planning on moving to Spain, but the pandemic has stalled their plans. So they're living in Holland until the world opens up again. She tells me that the beauty of the natural world there has sustained her. Even though many of the tulip fields were turned under because the pandemic closed down their markets, some tulip growers did persist with their fields.
These are some of the local sights that inspired Amanda: flowering fruit trees and the iconic Dutch tulip fields.
And finally, colorist extraordinaire, Alicia Keshishian's contribution from Petaluma, CA. She creates so many beautiful objects. Lately, she's been using her dynamic fabric scraps to make masks for health care workers.
Alicia designs and sells the most extraordinary modernist, handmade rugs. Check them out: adkcarpets.com
She also posts stunning photos on Instagram: aliciakeshishian.
From Alicia: Being a highly visual person means that anything crossing my path might spark my imagination. Though travel is my main inspiration, nature is right beside it. This shelter in place is drastically limiting my travel time so, I’m enjoying the visuals closer to home. Luckily, it’s springtime and blossoms are in full explosive color right now!
A dizzying array of saturated warm tones with a splash of contrasting green makes my mouth water… the crazy amount of flowers blooming is just astonishing! It’s dazzling. It’s enchanting. It’s just plain wonderful. Taking a walk through my neighborhood is a concert of color! Every few feet something stops me in my tracks. Nature has, without a doubt, the absolutely best palette and those colors guide my work.
