a gift of the rose

 

I don't know about you, but I've never experienced a spring like this. Perhaps it's because I don't have my nose buried in work that I can stop to smell the roses...literally.

 

Here in Nova Scotia there are wild roses EVERYWHERE. I've never seen anything like it.

There are wild roses where one might only expect scrub and grasses and weeds. On this particular day we stopped on the road to the dump, in an industrial area, and crossed the ditch to find ourselves in a wall of roses.

 

In amongst the scotch pine was the most heavenly dense shrubbery of wild roses.

Budding, in full bloom, and completely over, they gave off their gentle scent.

 

I was surprised again to see the spiral transition of bud to full bloom.

Not really a  rose fan, I couldn't help but succumb to the romance of their raw beauty,

unenhanced by hybridization.

 

It was pretty amazing to see so many at once, growing in an area where they are taken for granted, like one more weed.

And then there were the white ones. Well, actually, they were palest pink.

 

I fell immediately in love...

How could these go unseen, just growing by their lonesome, with only each other to know their exquisite gloriousness?

 

This truly humbles me, the rapture of nature...

One begins to really appreciate what is meant by

"God is in the details"

 

Every little raindrop on every petal, every raindrop that clings to the Horsehair that weaves its story,

adds to the poetry for those with eyes to see, and a heart with which to feel

Buttercups and Horsehair and a few stray Forget-Me-Nots

 

The glory that is a 5 petalled Buttercup

 

St. John's Wort

 

New maple leaves start red and in the fall, may finish red

 

Little would you know that this magnificent setting is roadside

and not in a grand garden

 

 a peek at what I've been working on in my mermaid book

One of the startling lessons I've learned is that I can photocopy a drawing from my sketchbook, as I've done here, and through the magic of acrylic matte medium, I can not only glue it down, but also use it as a base for more embellishment with pencil crayon and acrylic paint. The outlines and curlicues in white are done with a Sharpie paint pen, one of the many new mediums I have been learning about, poster paint (or gouache) in a pen format.

 

and here is a rosebud for you

it holds the gift of Potential that lays inside us all.

Be patient for her gift only opens where there is warmth and light and nurturing.

That is all we need give ourselves in order for our bud to bloom.

Peace