 |
This corner of my aspen painting reminds me of how aspen
stands are really all connected underground.
Aspens are the largest living group of connected self-reliant plants on
Earth. We need our supportive structures in this weird and
strange time we are living in, and these aspens symbolize that for me. |
Deidre Townsend: One Tiny Daisy Oil on Canvas  Rabbits invading our neighborhood have prevented me from having lots of colorful daisies. I planted various colors but so far have only had one white daisy make it long enough for me to enjoy. It still made me happy to see, just like daisies are created to do. Daisies are a happy flower. Rabbits think so! Jeanne King: Self-Reliance Photograph  |
We planted
every tree in our yard and gave them all of the support we could so that each
got all the attention it needed to flourish. The first year our pine trees produced pine cones, I gathered a few of them and tossed them into a flower pot on my potting bench. One day, I noticed a tiny sprout growing in the flower pot! We left it alone; it didn’t need our support! Over the next few months, it grew into a strong seedling, hearty enough to be planted in the yard and now growing into a mighty pine! |
 |
| Land, sea, and sky are my connections to home. They keep me grounded. |
 |
Nothing to see here… can barely even see the lake… just a bunch of twigs and branches and logs. Unless... Unless you look more closely! You never realize how many turtles live in a pond until the sun shines brightly on a chilly day. They crawl on logs to bask in the light and soak up the warmth. Sara's image showed a tangle of maple branches against the cold
sky with one thing that didn't quite belong. My response was to paint twigs, branches, and
logs on the cool lake with some things at the center that don't... well,
actually do... belong. |
 |
When I saw Sara’s photo, I felt winter’s cold isolation, not a support system. Since I had been thinking of Robyn McClendon’s January journaling prompt, "What does void mean to you," it made me think of a void. A pessimist thinks a void is empty, cold, colorless, lonely and devoid of life. I choose the optimistic approach of seeing a void as a calm, peaceful, blank canvas waiting hopefully for someone to put their fingerprint on it to bring it to life. The mix of primary colors flits across this void waiting to combine and explode into more colors and shapes. This new year’s beginning represents opportunity to begin anew and create and shape something hopeful for 2021. |
 |
| This lonely pine cone has been caught in maple branches for months, and I see it on my daily walks. I started thinking about how we all need our own support systems...someone to catch us when we fall... especially in these difficult times. |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Positive feedback and encouraging comments welcome!