Nature’s Lace

The intricacy

So lovely and delicate

No one doeth own

A right to claim

The design

Mercilessly created

For all to see

Who have an eye

For nature’s decorations.

The lace hides her face

Through summer

But in fall she sheds her shawl

And shows for all

Her patterns of grace

Knitted by the hands of angels

To put a smile on your face.

There was no dispassion

In her creation

With love and hope

For all to adore

The beauty and lore

Throughout the seasons

She gives to those with reason.

Copyright Robyn Graham

Nature’s Lace – A Hydrangea Leaf in the Fall

Find Peace in Patience

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Find Peace in Patience

 

Hard at Work

“LIFE is a mosaic of pleasure and pain – grief is an interval between two moments of joy. Peace is the interlude between two wars. You have no rose without a thorn; the diligent picker will avoid the pricks and gather the flower. There is no bee without the sting; cleverness consists in gathering the honey nevertheless.”

– Sri Sathya Sai Baba

“Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.” – Robert Green Ingersoll

“The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others”

 – Saint John Chrysostom

Nature’s Little Secret

It is the marriage of the soul with nature that makes the intellect fruitful, and gives birth to imagination.  – Henry David Thoreau

Nature’s Secret

The Golden Spiral

Giving Birth to  Imagination

The Golden Spiral is a fabulous compositional rule.  The fern is just one example of the Golden Spiral found in nature.  Sea shells are another.  Flowers yet another.   The Golden Spiral is one component of the Golden Ratio of composition. The Golden Spiral is a powerful compositional tool, not easy to master, but fun to practice and observe. Did you know that iPhones, credit cards, and Kit-Kats are all designed using the Golden Ratio?

 If you would like to learn more about the Golden Ratio compositional rule, click here or here.

 

The Dragonfly

Words associated with the Dragonfly:

light

vision

adaptive

color

magic

joy

illusion

change

sense of self

souls of the dead

summer

mysticism

wish

 

Joy

Mystical

Light and Color

2013 Lily Series – 12

Joyful Majesty

Joyful Majesty In Black and White

Joyful = the color yellow

Majesty = a meaning of the Lily in the Victorian Language of Flowers

I had to post both images because…

I loved the cheerfulness of the yellow and the feeling of joy it brought me, especially in the warm glow of the sun.  The black and white, however, moved me as well and I loved the contrast.

The Irony of the Definition

The Thistle

My presence

in the

garden

for most

invokes

a smile.

 

My color’s

so

bright,

it glows,

but

falsehood

flows.

For

the

gardener,

whose hand

nurtured

me

to

grow,

did not

know

my

meaning.

 

It

is not

joy

in the

morning,

but

a bold

resistance,

sorrow,

and

mourning.

 

Hatred,

disregard,

and

retaliation

are my

obligation,

but only

by

definition.

 

The

root

of my

being,

no harm

could

ensue,

for

despite

my

spiky

appearance,

I

am

soft

and

fragile

and

grow

tall,

to

above

all,

assist

in

cooking

and

beauty,

and

keeping

you

healthy.

Thistle Budd

Color Glows

Thistle Standing Tall

For Cooking, Beauty, and Health

In the language of flowers the Thistle, also known as safflower, has meanings that do not at all reflect the  beauty and intrigue of the bud or flower.  The meanings of the thistle were featured in the poem above and include: misanthrope, defiance, vengeance, and grief.

I find it somewhat ironic that these words are associated with a flower that is so pretty and is thought to have useful medicinal properties such as: preventing heart disease and stroke, lowering fevers, treating coughs and breathing problems, tumors, pain, and clotting conditions, in addition to other medical uses.  The oil from safflower seed is used as a cooking oil.  The flower is used to color cosmetics and to dye fabrics.  Ref: WebMd

Please note that I am in now way recommending the use of the flower for any of the above referenced purposes.  However, I thought it of interest and wanted to provide a background for the poem above.

Miracle of Light and Shadow

“To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle. Every cubic inch of space is a miracle.” – Walt Whitman

Miracle of Light and Shadow

Bonners Ferry, Idaho

March 2013

The little specks you see in the upper right corner are Bald Eagles flying around the nature reserve.

 

The World Spins

Stress Enters.

Life becomes overwhelming.

Stress becomes life.

The world spins.

We forget to breath.

The world spins.

Then suddenly,

The spinning slows.

And we stop,

And breath.

Once again

Light guides us forward,

And we carry on.

Carry on.

copyright Robyn Graham

Image taken while hiking in Northern Idaho, March 2013.

 

2013 Tulip Series – 01

“If I had my life to live over again, I would ask that not a thing be changed, but that my eyes be opened wider.” – Jules Renard

Rising Up to Brighter Days

 

 

 

Rising Up to Brighter Days in Black and White

(Black and white flowers may not demonstrate the cheer and hope that colorful flowers do,  but, I loved this image in black and white.  Many, many years ago, black and white would have been the only option to present this image and I believe it would have had the same meaning – Rising Up.)

As today is the first day of Spring I feel myself rising up out of the winter doldrums.   The days are getting longer, the sun, when it shines, is shining brighter.  I am longing for warmer days and more sunshine.  As the tulip in the image is rising up toward the sunlight, my spirits are rising in hope that soon, warmer, brighter days will be here to stay for a while.  Let’s all open our eyes wide so that the senses will be reawaken in the days to come – with birds chirping, flowers blooming, grass growing, and children laughing.