The month looks pretty much all about snow. With over two feet of it already on the ground, there’s not much to do garden-wise. I’m going to use this down time to paint, write and catch up on reading and paperwork. The garden is never far from my thoughts however.
In the spirit of the season, I’m sharing some of my poems and art. I hope it’ll give you reason to pause, breathe and live in the moment, in the season.
February
The shortest month grows the longest
list of plants yet to be planted
The perfect garden patiently awaits.
Snowfall
Angel feather snow floats softly
Settles on earth deep in slumber
Squirrel decides to sleep in.
Under The Pile Of Snow
Under the pile of quilted snow the snowdrops are stirring Restless green ready to meet the golden light of a newly hatched world.
February Fervor
Golden sunsets
part leaden skies
Frost and fire
earth shifts and sighs..
Wild, untamed
landscapes wait
Restless slumber
at Spring’s gate.
Crystal snow
melts in drips
Plumping roots
greening tips.
Flowing sap
send hearts aflutter
Weather and emotions
soar and splutter.
Note: The Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend! Don’t miss out! Get participation details.
‘ Art In Bloom’ the poster said. Paintings of flowers I
thought. It was so much more.
Weston, a quintessentially charming Vermont town best known for the
legendary Vermont Country Store and its thriving eponymous playhouse.
I have, over the years, discovered that this little place has some
mighty impressive events and highly energetic, innovative and
generous residents. For all those of us ( my hand is up) in and close
to New York City who assume everything interesting and noteworthy
happens in our neck of the woods, Weston is there to say “not so
fast’.
The annual antique and craft shows are world class. While the craft show is restricted to Vermont artisans only, dealers from all over the country participate in the antiques show. With none of the uber-hype and big city ‘sophistication’ getting in the way, they showcase the best of Vermont. And the best is precisely that.
This past weekend, I was in for an unexpected treat in the show ‘Art In Bloom’. Not simply art on display, it was a show of flower arrangements by members of the local garden club inspired by paintings donated by local artists. While we are all accustomed to art inspired by nature and still-life paintings of floral arrangements, it was a nice twist to see what a person could do with flowers to interpret art. And quite a challenge it was.
The art works of mostly paintings and a couple of lovely examples of
fiber arts, ranged from renditions of flowers to still-lifes with
flowers to landscapes and abstract art. I imagine the abstracts and
some of the landscapes must’ve been particularly challenging. How
does one interpret a snow scene, a covered bridge, a musical
instrument or a frog? Well, the members of the Green Mountain Garden
Club rose to the occasion splendidly. From the literal to the
imaginative, artistic, thoughtful and creative, each arrangement
interpreted its corresponding artwork handsomely. Clearly, the flower
arrangers knew their flowers and plants, understood nature, had a
sense of humor and appreciated the arts very well.
I had come to this exhibit out of curiosity. Having never been to
such a ‘reverse’ pairing of art and flower arranging, I had no
expectations. So, it wasn’t just a welcome surprise – here was a
wonderful demonstration of creativity and artistry. I was taught, I
was inspired, I was humbled.
I came, I saw, I ascended.
Note – I’m giving myself the challenge of creating a flower arrangement inspired by a favorite painting. Maybe you will do the same? Please share!
Depending on the device on which you’re reading this, some of the images below will appear on their side. I do not yet know how to rectify the problem. I apologize!
