Quarantine Creativity

As anyone who knows me could tell you, I love to take photographs all the time. Flowers are always a favorite subject especially when they are just emerging after a dreary winter. Spring is always full of subject matter for me. This year was no exception. With our obvious difficulties facing us during quarantine, I have used this time to slow down and look more carefully. I have used this time to tackle projects that have been put aside for way too long. I have used this time to be creative. I have used this time to get more exercise than I usually do. 

On my daily walks, I started to scope out trees that had buds emerging. One morning, as a break from the laptop screen and work-at-home orders, I took my camera to play with different lenses and capture some stunning florals amidst the moody spring weather. Inspiration was literally just around the corner!

Another thing I have taken the time to do during this strange period, is to connect with longtime friends the old-fashioned way. Burned out from virtual meetings, hangouts, and happy hours, I have reached out to them with written correspondence. Everyone loves some snail mail! These images and others are available as handmade greetings HERE.

Tulips Galore! Celebrating Earth Day

In northern New Jersey, you won't find windmills, canals, or Delft blue pottery, but you will find more tulips than you ever imagined outside of Keukenhof Gardens or the famous tulip fields of the Netherlands (and, even some wooden shoes). If you can't make it to Holland in the springtime, there are rows of colorful tulips right in northern New Jersey that rival those found outside Amsterdam. Just a short distance from Trenton and Bordentown, Holland Ridge Farms have planted millions of tulip bulbs in newly-forged beds. In the fall, the spectacle turns into sunflowers worthy of a Van Gogh painting. For the past two years, the former dairy farm has dedicated over about 153 acres to the cheery spring flowers complete with a pollination expert (straight from Holland). Visitors can freely roam the rows and pose for the camera with multiple varieties of photogenic tulips. 

I'm looking forward to taking the country roads of the Garden State during the fall season, and enjoying equally as many sunflowers- perhaps during the exquisite lighting offered at a sunrise or a sunset visit. Either way, they're beautiful no matter what!

Earth Day 2014 - A Few Things Worth Protecting

Fresh Flowers, Rhode Island - 2012

Beekeeping Apprenticeship, City Island, New York - 2012

Little Compton, Rhode Island - 2013

Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania - 2012

Monterey, California - 2014

Anchovies, Monterey Aquarium - 2014

 Farm Stand Flowers, Rhode Island - 2013

 Seaweed, Rhode Island - 2012

New Jersey, 2010

Virginia Beach, Virginia - 2013

 Little Compton, Rhode Island - 2013

 Lancaster, Pennsylvania - 2012

Burst of Pink

Houston Street, NYC - April 18, 2015

Spring Cravings

As the temps have finally started on a steady rise, colorful store windows reflect the mood of most New Yorkers hungry for brighter, longer days. This week, at the beginning of what felt like a global-wide spring break, a welcome day in the mid-sixties allowed us to all finally thaw out. I was out walking amidst the crowds along the route of the big department stores across Midtown. The stores seemed to be rivaling themselves for their own Christmas windows. Now, a floral theme was very dominant, and lifted my mood considerably. Above, the understated elegance of Bergdorf Goodman.

Macy's hosts an annual flower show and this year's theme is a survey of the fine arts. Above, an homage to Pop Art with a double entendre for the season, while the two most dominant figures in Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884) make an appearance just outside of the main entrance. The original hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. Inside, more floral decor on the main floor brings in the work of Michelangelo, Matisse, and Picasso. Below, a rainstorm references Magritte with large floating raindrops and red Gerbera daisies.

Happy Spring!

Meeting Monet at the New York Botanical Gardens

"Monet's Garden" at the New York Botanical Gardens was both an outdoor in and indoor experience. Like the famous waterlily paintings, the blooming water lily ponds at the Botanical Garden displayed the aquatic flora in all their glory in a wide variety of types and colors. The exhibit overall was a reproduction of Monet's home in Giverny, France comprised of flower beds and also some of the paintings themselves. In collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a side exhibition called "Paintings and Plants" featured paintings, photographs, and artifacts on display in the Mertz Library to compliment the plants outdoors in the ponds and in the Haupt Conservatory. Through such a comprehensive display, you see how important gardening was to the artist. Monet claims his lucrative career is owed to bright and colorful flowers. His lush grounds and colorful home are reflective of his work. 

Inside the glass arboretum, the façade of Monet's home, a slice of the existing gardens, and even the famous green bridge are represented. Dotted with millions of colors, you can see how the light is constantly changing in the flowers and foliage as were the ever-changing images that Monet painted repeatedly. 

The show at The New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx runs through October 21st.
The real thing in Giverny below (from 2005) 

 

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Earth Day 2012 - Spring At Longwood Gardens

The View From My Window - Spring!