just spent a weekend with my friend and inspiration, lisa congdon, who gave an AIGA talk and a Creative Mornings talk, and then delivered the commencement address for the minneapolis college of art and design (MCAD). i spent the weekend full of admiration for how hard lisa works and how talented she is, and full of girl-power pride that a hard working artist can make a success of herself in this tough market. it may have been for that reason that i noticed how much smaller the male austrian pine cones are than the female seed-bearing cones. the male cones in this photo are very cute. but there’s no way they are going to rule the world.

austrian pine flower

saint paul, minnesota