Tiny Acorns, Mighty Oaks
October 4, 2013
“Might oaks from tiny acorns grow.”
— English proverb
Today I’m sharing yet another watercolor painting of this season’s acorns. I framed this sketch and presented it with a small jar of acorns to my daughter for her 25th birthday. She’s a teacher, and I thought these small gifts would look nice on her desk at school — a reminder of her work preparing the soil for her students to thrive and grow.
Cross-Stitched Sea Shells
July 10, 2012
Some of you requested more (and better) photographs of the embroidered sea shells that decorate my jars of sea shells from Hawaii. I searched for and found the pattern I used, from This is . . . “The Magic of the Sea” by Annie Designs, copyright 1980. I haven’t done counted cross-stitch embroidery in a very long time, so it was fun to resurrect these old embroideries for you. Thank you for your interest in them!
Pocketable Treasures
July 7, 2012
“I fetched my sea-born treasures home.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, from “Each and All”
“Many of us beach-comb. I think in a pretty mindless way, hoping that when we later look at our gatherings, we’ll feel the charge of the beautiful, happened-upon, pocketable things . . .”
— W. S. Di Piero, from “Saints”
Since I began painting flowers, leaves, seeds, and other natural things, I’m constantly carrying home “found” treasures. They often become models for my watercolor sketches. Something ineffable has drawn my eye and hand to these little gifts of nature, and I find that taking the time to sketch or paint them deepens my appreciation for them. But interestingly, once they’ve been captured on paper, I seldom feel the need to keep them in my possession.
Di Piero is aware of the “charge” of the beautiful in shells and other found objects. But Emerson warns that the “gay enchantment” often dies once the object is removed from its natural setting, pocketed, and taken home. He repines that his sea-born treasures have “left their beauty on the shore.”
I found my sea urchin shells on a beach in Hawaii almost 30 years ago. I’ve kept them in a small glass jar and still treasure them. Seeing them brings back memories of my first trip to Hawaii and the secluded beach where I beach-combed for shells. So in some respect, these pocketable treasures have kept their charge over the years.
One cannot always hold on to beauty. But sometime we can come pretty close.
Beauty Tips
February 9, 2011
“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, even more than things, have to be restored,
renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed;
never throw out anyone.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.”
— “Beauty Tips” often quoted by Audrey Hepburn, written by Sam Levenson