wabi sabi for artists

One of my favorite books for creative inspiration is Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by  Leonard Koren. It’s a little book–a chapbook of sorts. It’s become a classic. First publisher in 1994, i is credited with bringing the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi into western aesthetic theory. If you like the such things, I highly recommend it. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book–and it reminds me of today’s photo.

“Pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry.”
― Leonard Koren

(unidentified) winter stems

potted geraniums in windows

Who doesn’t love a line up of potted geraniums in the window? So old school. So Scandinavian. So like grandma-used-to-do. And now you can add to that list so-like-maryjo’s-husband-does.  Yup, Stevie is smitten with his geraniums. He moves them out onto the dock (to get full sun) every spring, and brings them gingerly indoors every autumn, and puts them under the kitchen windows, and then supplements our low-angle northern light with an overhead full spectrum grow-light on a timer. We get to enjoy this sympathetic green and red combo all winter long! As many of my long time readers know, my husband is a man of many passions. I sometimes I tire of each new obsession. But this time, I am all in!

geranium flower and buds

reach for the sun

I drove to my favorite bakery this morning to pick up some bread and sweets for easter brunch. On my way home, this roadside branch caught my attention. I liked the asymmetry of it–all the branchlets on the same side of the main branch, all desperately reaching for the sun. The sun fuels all life on earth. I think all of us in the north should desperately reach for the sun this week. It’s been a long stretch of darkness. Get outside. Reach for the sun. Spring is here!

(unidentified) branch with tiny spring buds

birds of a feather

I got a commission recently for a set of three feather photos–a kind of triptych of sorts. So my box of feathers has been scattered all over the kitchen floor. Photographing feathers like this on a white background is a little tricky because the white shafts of the feathers want to disappear (over-expose) when I lift the background to bright white during editing. So I don’t do it much. But there they were, asking to be photographed. So I indulged them.

some of my feathers–mostly found, some gifted

lichens from Madeline

My friend Madeline is the best gift giver. She was one who gifted me with the black swallowtail chrysalis (which she rescued from roadside boulevard mowers last autumn). And now yesterday, she gifted me with a bag full of assorted lichens and mosses from her weekend up in Grand Marais, MN on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Some people just have a knack for knowing exactly the right gift. It is such a delight, because it makes one feel seen. It’s hard to pull off consistently. I am not particularity skilled at it. I think it requires a certain level of attentiveness that I tend to save for the natural world. I rarely ever notice when someone gets a haircut. Or a new piece of jewelry. But I do notice lichens! And Madeline knew that. Thank you Madeline!

collection of misses and lichens from the North Shore of Lake Superior