White and Yellow

As well as being overwhelmed with the powerful smells of May flowers (see previous post) one is also overwhelmed by the colours of this month's flowers- everywhere in the English countryside there are snowflakes of white flowers and blossoms- May, Rowan, Horse Chestnuts, Queen Ann's Lace, Daisies- with a generous sprinkling of yellow- Dandelions, Buttercups, Cowslips.

May

May blossom- the first of the heavy, nostalgic smelling white flowers of Summer- a smell that overwhelms you and is on the edge of being unpleasant, it is so powerful. First you have the May, then the Rowan. then the Elder and also the Meadow Sweet: all have variations of this overpowering Summer scent.

My mother having been born on May 1st 1900- and her second name predictably May- there was always tension, checking whether the Hawthorns were flowering on her birthday. On her 100th birthday on May 1st 2000, I found some blooming and turned her into a May Queen, with flowers in her hair- although as her African Carer had done her hair in unfamiliar "top-knots", the sprigs of may had to perch in these rather than forming the traditional wreath I had imagined.

Coincidentally, her Great Granddaughter- my Great Niece- was also born on May 1st.

It was appropriate that my mother had a flower in her name as she loved flowers and all nature. A Scot, her first name, Armyne, was also right for her, as she was passionate about the Scottish mountains and there is one called Ben Armine.

Walking in the Bath country today, on a damp, muggy May afternoon, the rain brought out the smell of the first May flowers and I remembered Armyne. I also remember with pleasure her saying on that 100th birthday: "I've had a very shiny life".

April in England: 2

.....and now for some buds....

April in England: 1

"....And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf..." so wrote Robert Browning of April in England in his Home Thoughts from Abroad. Looking at those numerous "tiny" leaves these last few days it has been on my mind. Although he describes the Chaffinch singing on the orchard bough, on my recent walks I have found the melodious, lazy Blackbird's song and the laugh of the flight-dipping Green Woodpecker the most evocative.

I will divide this into two posts- first the leaves:

English Spring Woodland

My last post has possibly given a false impression of April in England- here the weather changes dramatically from day to day. Yesterday, walking in a wood near Bath, instead of snow the ground was sprinkled with white Wind Flowers (Wood Anemones) as well as Primroses, Celandines, Bluebells, Ground Ivy and Violets.

April: Oxford Road, San Marino CA & Oxford UK

Last week I returned to the UK for a period, according to the terms of my Visa, and last week I received emails with very different images of April both from California and Oxfordshire. The first photo was from Scott Smith of Kate Holt and me in the Huntington Botanical Gardens, Oxford Road, San Marino (see posts Huntington Gardens). The second email from UK Artist Helen Ganly showed evocative photos of a Winter Wonderland Oxfordshire- I start with flowers from my Huntington images and include some Malibu Lagoon yellow flowers:

Au revoir Santa Monica

Last week it was sad to leave Santa Monica and family and friends- and to leave the Ficus Trees still vulnerable although watched over by Treesavers. Today Treesavers meet with the Mayor and City Manager, hoping to reach some resolution. But what trust can you put in a City Council that allows their Receptionist to put an Attorney's Brief in the Trash Bin on a whim (see Treesavers Blogspot 3-29-08)? One feels this extraordinary behavior could only happen in an exaggerated comedy film- fact inevitably being stranger than fiction.
Treesavers

Huntington Botanical Gardens: 2

My second post for Huntington Gardens concerns the Bamboo groves on the way to the Japanese Gardens. As a child I was excited by what appeared to be a bamboo forest by a magical pond- full of bulrushes, dragonflies and tadpoles- which was at the bottom of my paternal Grandparent's garden. Bamboos may not be trees but the similarity to Palm trees in the Huntington was remarkable- as was the patterns they made. I will head the images with a Palm tree:









Huntington Botanical Gardens

Huntington Botanical Gardens: 1

Yesterday I was visually and physically refreshed and stimulated by a visit to Huntington Botanical Gardens with photographer Scott Smith and writer Kate Holt.

I will divide this into two posts. First, the Desert Gardens, always full of surprizes:

My Tree Light Boxes

On several occasions I have mentioned the Light Boxes of Santa Monican trees that I am making. As I am still developing them, I have hesitated to do a post. However, as people keep asking me questions about them, here is an explanation:

They are semi-sculptural, the trees being modelled in light-relief, a mold made and that in turn cast into. This "tool" is then vacuum formed in a translucent acrylic which is finally back-lit, being set in a box containing either florescent lamps or LED'S. Some - for instance, the Jacaranda and Green Gem- are then treated with recycled glass to give color and texture whereas others have the addition of heat-molded colored acrylic, as in the flowers of the Silk Floss tree.

From the top: 1. Jacaranda, 2. Silk Floss, 3. detail Silk Floss Flower, 4. Green Gem (Ficus), 5. Green Gem clay model, 6. Green Gem rubber mold, 7. Green Gem "tool", 8. Bus Stop Palms, 9. detail Bus Stop Palms.