Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere

I am a fresh flower fan. In May Sarton's journals, she devotes pages to describing the various daily flowers she picks and arranges. The way the sun illuminating a petal of deep color can lift her mood. She writes, "When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention the tthem. They are felt as presences. Without them I would die. Why do I say that? Partly because they change before my eyes. They live and die in a few days; they keep me closely in touch with process, with growth, and also with dying. I am floated on their moments." (Journal of a Solitude.) Without flowers, her house is desolate. They mark the seasons, they literally get her out of bed in the morning.

I think about May Sarton when I do my weekly bouquets for my house. Because of like-minded flower fiends, I feel that the time and attention I spend on flowers is not frivolous or wasteful, but puts me in touch with the cycles of life all around and within us. It changes the house from a collection of inanimate objects to a living mural of change. Children do that as well, of course!

This spring I have had different flowers to put together for each weekend, starting with the daffodils and paper whites and moving through branches of the various flowering ornamental trees on my property. Today I took a basket and did a wide ranging collection:

 

Overflowing basket on the patio-rhododendrum, irises, peonies, wigelia, and hydrangea

Straight into the sink—it is good to recut the stems while they are submerged so they suck up water without air bubbles. Also nice to refresh everybody after the shock of cutting

The really fun part for me is laying them out and waiting for them to "speak to me" —to tell me which shaped vase and which companion flowers to group them with.

 

Distribute throughout the house, and enjoy!

Rhododendrum, willow branches and wigelia

Peonies and Iris

Even wildflowers and weeds have their place with the last of the fragrant lilacs....

NYC: Flowers, Fruit Tarts and Theater

I am catching up on my back log of pictures and experiences, so this trip to NYC was actually two weeks ago.

In the city for work, I finished my meetings early on Monday, at 3 pm, and had until the following morning all to myself. In my younger days I would have rushed through my address book to find friends to meet for coffee, dinner, dessert—whatever I could squeeze in.

But lately I have found that I enjoy being my own travel companion. Of course, it wouldn't be fun if that were all the time, but from a life of people-immersion: colleagues, children, (lovely) husband—there is a novelty to just being by myself.

I started by walking the 45 blocks down Broadway from Columbia to my hotel, taking my time to look in shops. Sigh, what a great city! I bought myself flowers for my room, and then an interesting glass to house them in, a new tradition I am establishing for myself. I love cut flowers, and I love having interesting vases and glassware to do my own floral arrangements at homes, so what better way to indulge than one-arrangement-at-a-time paced with my own travel schedule?

I took a break at one of my favorite cafes, Le Pain Quotidien. I know that it is a chain and not "cool and indy,"but I like the spacious farmhouse interior, the really good food, and great coffee, and since it is only in NYC, Washington DC, LA, London and Philly, for me it is exotic. And I am addicted to their fruit tarts...

This photo of Le Pain Quotidien is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Settled in with my latte and fruit tart, I browsed the theater selections. I wanted something low key and entertaining—not big, blaring, Broadway and loud. Lately, my daughter and I have been watching Ugly Betty together, a fun sit com about the fashion industry that has a tongue-in-cheek template of Mexican soap operas and a wonderful bright color palate. One of its stars, Michael Urie, was performing a one-man play in the Village called "Buyer and Cellar." I bought my single ticket (second row center—the advantage of being a singleton theater goer), and headed back to my hotel for a brief rest.

I was staying at the NYLO again, and I was delighted to discover their redesign. The rooms were bright, colorful, well laid out and full of amazing light and playful modern decor accents. Also had a great work table area for me to set up my flowers and my new vase. Just like home. (Only someone else makes the bed!)

Down to the Village by subway, into the intimate Barrow Theater,  and I had the perfect theater experience!

The play has a very quirky premise based on a riff off of Barbara Streisand's recent book:
in which she describes her house, including, a private "mock" shopping mall in her basement to house all her tchotchkes and collections.

The playwright imagines that if she has a shopping mall, well, she must have a clerk to wait on her when she "shops" and from there the play takes off. Michael Urie plays the out of work LA actor who takes the gig....

 Photo from Broadway.com

The play has a bit of a gay-culture insider's feel, (Barbara is after all a stereotypical gay fetish), but not to the exclusion of the non-gay viewer. It is about loneliness and narcissism and celebrity, about relationships and projection and being genuine. And it works. Wonderful use of a spare stage with projections and very few physical objects, and really brilliant script which brings to life several characters through the auspices of our one man star. But what also struck me was the power of seeing an actor up close and really feeling the power of his art, energy and charm, as opposed to what I had experienced by watching this very same actor on the TV screen.

Long live theater!!!

Ode to the Cleveland Museum of Art: I

My connection with CMA goes back to childhood: first my mother taking me to the museum, then  trips by bus with Jackie, my best friend in high school, and then attending AP Art History at the museum as a senior in high school—one of the best classes I have ever taken, anywhere, and one which to this day informs how I see the world.

Since moving back to Cleveland in 2001 with my family we have been members of CMA. All our children have taken art courses at the museum. My oldest son's portfolio for his application to Cleveland Institute of Art, where he is now a student, was composed of many pieces he had created in CMA courses.

The first thing I do when I go to the museum is drag my kids to see the weekly flower arrangement. Several times I have asked a museum official, "Who does these amazing arrangements?" 

And the response is always, "Womens Council."

"Yes, but who is their florist?" I would then ask, convinced that there was some great artist, a master-florist tucked away in a dusty shop somewhere, most likely Little Italy, who had held this commission from the Womens Council for the past 50 years.

I finally understood that women from the council actually do the arranging!

This revelation was followed by the happy happenstance of catching a women's council member red-handed in the act of arranging, and questioning her on the spot about this mysterious council. Fortunately she generously answered all my questions. When I learned the variety of activities in which the Council participates, I immediately became interested in joining, and this same woman has graciously offered to sponsor my membership. A week later I had lunch with her and a friend of hers who would be the one to second my membership. It was a great lunch with wonderful food and conversation and I feel like I have landed among future friends. 

The most exciting thing about being a prospective new member of this council is the orientation I would participate in next year: 4 full days spent at the museum learning everything from the guard's rotation, through the storage and archival facilities, to gallery lectures with each of the curators. I will finally be able to continue the love affair with the museum that I began as an AP art history student back in the day.

Original Entrance