hortensia

sometimes simple is best. and sometimes simple is all you got.

pink hydrangea flower

one day in july

yesterday, a photographer and writer from my local newspaper (the minneapolis star/tribune…aka the strib) came out t0 the house to take a few photos of me “doing STILL.” the photos will be part of a feature story they plan to run in september, in celebration of 10 years of STILL. so, in order to give the photographer something to work with, i took a stroll around my yard and gathered a handful of specimens. she took a few photos. and i thought maybe we were done. but we weren’t. she asked–gulp–if i would make a STILL composition. making assemblages and compositions on the spot, while carrying on a conversation/interview with the writer, is hard for me. it’s asking me to do a split brain thing–talk (intelligently) about my STILL process, and do my (inuitive) STILL process at the same time. but of course, what always happens when i am working under time pressure and other constraints, what came out was better than i would have expected. thanks, rene, for cracking the whip.

bit and pieces from a stroll through my yard in mid-july

trying too hard

i have mixed feelings about lilies. i love their sculptural petals. look at those two on top there, cresting like ocean waves.  but i don’t like their front so much. i’m not a prude, but that’s a lot of sex parts hanging out there on display. they look desperate to me, like the girl in the bar wearing too much makeup and too little top. i want to pull up a chair to explain how they are never going to attract a nice pollinator if they look like that. but i’m guessing they would just laugh at me, and point to the crowd buzzing just behind me, lined up and waiting for a moment or two of trashy sweetness.

lily flower (lilium)

could everybody take it down a notch?

it feels weird to be posting dried bits when we are in peak summer….but dried bits are piling up on the specimen table, and sometimes they harangue me as i walk past them toward the laundry room. these two…well, they were making quite a racket, and i thought it was time to shut them up for a while. can you please acknowledge them? tell them how pretty they are? i could use a little peace and quiet.

dried tulip and rose

simple and delicate

simple and frail. i’m still in recovery mode after surgery, and i’m watching some pretty dumb tv series to get through the day. feeling simple. and frail.

summer prairie grass