I recently returned from a trip to Seattle where spring was looking more spring like than the snow that fell here in Northwest Montana today. The earlier snow has evolved to a soggy wet saturated foggy haze. As I write big plops of wet snow are falling off the roof.
While in the Seattle area we stayed at an airbnb near Green Lake. Artist hosts Jil and Curtis were great. Walking around the lake helped us tolerate the noise and bustle of the urban landscapes. It was fun to see cherry blossoms and horsetail (Equisetum is a “living fossil and reproduces from spores rather than seeds). As a child, and still sometimes as an adult, I have enjoyed pulling horsetail apart at the joints and then putting it back together again. On this trip the green was very beguiling.
The lighter greens of the Euphorbia characais “Wulenii” also kept catching my attention.
In addition to seeing spring greens and flowers we went to the Chihuly Garden & Glass Museum for more color (here are some more images from my Facebook page). The shapes of the large vessels below remind me a bit of the orange translucent fungus, Aleuria aurantia, that grows in the forest near our home.
The glass orbs and shapes in the boats below echoed the feeling of a “journey” through the bright joys and righteous forms.
The layers offered many different views.
In the outside garden the plantings and the glass have a coordinated relationship.
It is important to me to go out in the world and see new images and hear new sounds. I was drawn to these lines and marks on some of the glass Chihuly pieces that were in more neutral tones. I also loved visiting the Seattle Art Museum and seeing some Nick Cave work (click to see a couple images on my Facebook page). At the Moisture Festival it was a treat to see the Duo Rose and other fine cabaret performers – fun to venture out and great to be home.
Back home in Montana the bears are out and about (click here for some more images of the grizzly bear tracks seen on recent walks).
