Last week was a blur

I don't remember the good part of last week.  I got sick, I've been in bed, I've been sleeping a lot.  Where did all my time go?  I'm just starting to feel better but it seems like every other person I know is sick.  I vow to get a flu shot next year!

A post about my plants

So I was tending to my plants the other day (I admit that I have been neglecting them for some time but good thing that most are hearty succulents) and just tending to them helped me understand some important lessons.  Here are some of my observations:

1) I don't have a green thumb and I've always marveled at those who did have them . . . like my friend L.  She can touch a dead plant and bring it back to life.  Her home is filled with beautiful plants that all seem to say "we get well taken care of".  But anyway, my point is that even though I am not your classic gardener, there is something nourishing about interacting with plants, and nature in general.  I just felt so happy and full after tending to my plants -- pulling out the dead leaves, re-potting with fresh soil, trimming dead branches.  It was nice to see young green shoots coming out of my plants.  It meant that there was life and regeneration happening in my little pots.

2) Things grow when you nurture them.
I've thought long and hard about what makes things grow but I think it's simple really.  Take care of something, nurture it, love it, and you'll see it grow.

3) I bought most of my plants at the grocery store.  They were pretty, decorative items I bought on a whim but they've since moved from the store shelves, been transplanted into bigger pots, and have weathered their fair share of wind, heat, and cold.  I can't really call them pretty but they are beautiful -- some have grown wild, rustic, and changed colors to adapt to a non-climate controlled space.  Yes, you can't call them pretty any longer but they are still beautiful.   

Did you know that British writer, G.K. Chesterton, abandoned atheism and came to believe in God after examining a dandelion?  How amazing . . .

The community garden in Irvine I get to walk past everyday!

Peace in the park.

Design meets lawn.

The grocery store succulents no more.

My minimalist garden in our front entrance.  Noguchi inspired?

My air plant is growing a flower!

Cody, my nature buddy.  I swear, this dog could spend half of his life sniffing the ground.

The Beauty in Minimalism

Minimalism, a stripping down to the most fundamental of forms, can be so beautiful in its celebration of shape, structure, and skeleton. 

My trip to St. Louis last week reminded me of the time I found minimalist Richard Serra's sculpture in the middle of downtown on a previous conference I attended there in 2009.  I was walking from my hotel to the conference center when, to my delight, I stumbled upon a sculpture garden in the middle of the city and the Richard Serra installation shown here:

I loved the sharp angles and exact shadows this sculpture created in the middle of a grassy plot of land.  This sculpture must really pop out when the ground is covered in snow!

I had heard of Richard Serra in an art class but became more familiar with his work on a visit to BCAM a few years ago.  I was going through some hard things at the time and wanted to take an afternoon off at the museum.  It was here that I discovered his sculpture "Band":

Richard Serra "Band".  Image via tincaart.com/wordpress

"Band" is interactive.  You can walk around the serpentine maze of its massive form and discover intimate spaces in the center of the sculpture, or take in its seemingly infinite length as you circle around its outer structure.  Something about the towering sculpture and its earthy color - the color of red clay - was so soothing and therapeutic for me that day.  There was just something beautiful about the sculpture's silence juxtaposed with its massive size.

A Journey

I've been thinking a lot about choices and direction lately (it's probably because I'll soon be leaving my '20s, and those two topics seem to come up a lot in one's '20s and '30s).

For some reason I immediately thought about these two images from Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the Flemish Renaissance painter (I'm not an expert on Renaissance art but I remember these images from a high school text book).

I can't really pinpoint why these two images came to mind but there's definitely something about the theme of journey in both of these paintings.  More to ponder . . .

On a side note, isn't it amazing the vivid stories both these paintings tell you?  I find it helpful to ask a lot of questions to get at the stories.

I also find it helpful to add a soundtrack to art (take an iPod to the museum one day - it's a delight for the senses) . . . my selection would be Ludovico Einaudi's Nuvole Bianche.

 

"The Fall of Icarus" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.  Image via gordonbrander.com 

"Hunters in the Snow" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.  Image gordonbrander.com

Weekends are for cooking and decorating

My weekend comfort food: kimchi, pork, tofu, and just enough spice.

Inspiration for Christmas decor right outside my front door!

Our alternative wreath.  I took branches and tied them with some artificial leaves I had lying around the house.

An arrangement of candles.

A little rosemary tree.

I love taking weekends to make things.  It's been fun to gather twigs, leaves, and branches right outside my door to decorate for Christmas.  Ahhh, I get inspired every morning I step outside the door!

Organized Chaos

I try to clean up but my desk always ends up looking this way.  Kind of nice in it's own way :)

Beautiful Losers