Okay, have I bitched enough? Been gone long enough for you to miss me? Thank you so much for all the kind comments on the last post, and please forgive my low moment of feeling territorial and unappreciated. It's been an energetically challenging year.
But now we have the beautiful May full moon on Thursday night, the moon of flowers, and may it heal the wounded Gulf, the people in Tennessee still recovering from floods, people all over the world still rebuilding from earthquakes or suffering from war or just trying to figure out who they are and what they need to do. Including me.
I've mentioned the StyleCourt blog before--it's one of my favorites for art, textiles, and design, and she has a lovely post on vintage editions of Out of Africa with fabric covers or textile-design covers.
I also recommend Elis Vermeulen's fascinating blog.
As for flowers, I've been thinking a lot about botanical art lately, and wishing I could take some of the cool courses at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Katharine Tyrrell at Making A Mark often writes about botanical illustration, and has good books to recommend. Flickr has many, many beautiful flower photographs. You could take a new look at Georgia O'Keeffe's 100 Flowers. Or just step outside into the intoxicating May moonlight and find some lilacs. I spent last weekend making fabric flower brooches; I can't post pictures just yet, but I will, down the road. And finally, I've had some initial conversations with my friends at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge about the possibility of a group art/textile/slow cloth retreat there. It's just a little seed that's been planted, that may or may not yield, but doesn't it look like an amazing place?
Those who read the stars and the cosmos say that this is a big, big full moon, an energetic watershed and a border between the past and future. Julie Demboski always has a brilliant and complex analysis, too. But you don't have to believe in astrology even a little bit to feel the power of a bright full moon in the sky, and to appreciate the symbol and sensibility of the Flower Moon.