In the deep peace of early dawn I wonder, dear readers, have you already seen enough images of flowers? I think you may have had enough. Yet, that is what I am working on – texture, colour, and composition of flowers blooming in my garden and other gardens.
How do I experience this African daisy?
Or this red hot poker?
Mid-summer sun does not inspire me to take photos of great vistas but the bright petals of flowers draw me close to earth’s surface, dancing provocatively with me.
Waves of light caught in gently moving petals bring my nose close. My eyes check for small guests before framing the shots.
What is it about the tight fist of a day lily that gives us the distinct impression that it will open tomorrow?
Rustling brush of wind whispers through the soft foliage… I must wait. There. Now slowly squeeze the shutter.
How many times can we look down the throat of an iris and still come away mesmerized by its intricate and sensual beauty?
But also I say this: that light
is an invitation
to happiness,
when it’s done right,
palpable and redemptive.
Inside the bright fields,
touched by their rough and spongy gold,
I am washed and washed
in the river
of earthly delight —
and what are you going to do —
what can you do
about it —
deep, blue night?
From Poppies by Mary Oliver
Sprout Question: What subject has most recently besieged your creative will?
© 2010 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
Creative Potager 
Your compositions are original- it’s true there’s a lot of floral photos, but it’s hard to get tired of such a captivating subject- especially when they’re taken with a fresh perspective, like these.
Thank you Shayla for the feedback and for coming by. I very much appreciate it.
Ah, thank you for breathing beauty into my world. I believe this is the job of the artist. We say, “Dear viewer, dear reader, let me take you by the hand and show you the world.”
To answer your question, the subject that has recently captured my muse is a journey. It was a journey I took as a teenager. The goal of this journey, I thought, was to find validation and love from another. Instead, what the journey attempted to teach me was how to love myself.
My task, now, is to re-live the events of this nine-month journey and report back to a 12 to 18 year old audience. So far, all goes well. I’m working on chapter five. However, I feel the enormity of the task.
Thank you Leanne and all the best with Chapter five… I am always amazed at how little is left of a project if we just keep working on it… one day there we are – celebrating its completion. I have been dipping in to your various blogs and AuthorLeanneDyck is a favourite. Even though I haven’t left a comment recently, I still like to drop in from time to time.
I really enjoy your flower shots and the comments that you provide. Thanks!
You are welcome slpmartin – good of you to let us know:)
That throat of the iris has me shivering with its beauty. WOW! It is strange how the mind will say that there is nothing new to photograph, paint or write about. But it’s in the intersection of new seeing where the new creativity is born.
Still seeking balance after my traveling…
Good luck with getting back into the groove of home Kathy. Long road trips usually leave me mentally pick up pieces of myself left at various point on the journey for days after coming home. I always laugh at myself when I find I am still sitting by a creek at a campsite even though I have been home for a week or more.
A Kathy quote: “it’s in the intersection of new seeing where the new creativity is born.”
I love flowers in general. wonderful photographs of flowers. presenting them in a new light allows for a new experience of seeing something we all know so well.
Thanks Jerry – good to see you finding a moment to come by now that your latest show has opened. I have kind of missed you around here and on twitter:))))
stunning photos!
what has besieged my creative will lately? possibilities. and change.
Thanks Stephanie and if it is not too bold to ask what kind of possibilities and change are showing up?
p.s. I made the edit and deleted 2nd comment. I find this is a limitation with wordpress… you don’t get a 15 minute window to make correction – but we manage:)
Terrill – The photography in this post is extraordinary; the “red hot poker” is out of this world! You’re “working on” texture, color and composition of flowers?” Jeez-Louise, I’d say you have it nailed to the wall! My eyes keep drinking in the color.
Sprout Question: What subject has most recently besieged your creative will?
Because my normal subject is currently sitting in the bowels of a dead hard drive waiting to be retrieved, my subject today was to have an adventure on my bicycle. Which I did with tremendous gusto! Camera in hand, I relished every moment.
Shortly, I’m going to sit down with my tree book again (Meetings with Remarkable Trees by Thomas Pakenham) and soak in a little more. His photos and words are delicious.
Thank you Laurie… I do like the bright colours and textures flowers have to offer they have a wonderful mystery in their specific structures that are designed to meet their propagation needs. And the beauty I am sure is for us:)
So glad to hear you were out and about on your bike with camera… I will be by your blog tomorrow to see what you saw:)
I was too this one specific spot on the island that has poplar trees with their dollar shaped leaves that chime in the wind. We mostly have alder here and their leaves don’t make the same sound. Where I grew up there were a lot of poplar and just this sound makes me wishful for home. Then the sea air washes over me and I know I have the best of both worlds:)
Terrill – I just had to come back and see it for myself. Yessiree! You’re just barely short of 12,000 hits.
YOU GO, GIRL!
I know Laurie it is so much fun to take an interest in such a nonessential thing as a number. I mean what will be different with 12,000 than with 11,932? And will it matter five years from now? Or even tomorrow after breakfast? But somehow there is satisfaction to having posted 102 posts since December 27, 2009 and sprouting 1,592 comments with almost, almost 12,000 views. Creative Potager and the blogging community where we all connect has become a bright spot in my day topped of by a few tweets on twitter and a few wall posts on facebook. Often I say things to David like “you know my friend Laurie?” and he smiles because yes he does know because I talk about you as if you live down the lane from me. Actually, I do that with a lot Creative Potager regulars… and Leanne… she DOES live just down the lane. The blur between online and offline is less than what I see with changes in distance using my trifocals.
So Laurie when I drop into your well read and moderated corner of the blogging world I feel like I know where the tea cups are and can just make myself at home.
It is so marvelous that you have reached this number of hits, Terrill. I think Laurie has also reached an amazing number! It’s not easy to get many hits on WordPress if you’re a beginning blogger.
I know many many people who have blogged for a long time and still haven’t hit 1,000. So we all should be delighted that we are finding topics that interest people and beckon them back.
Way to go!
Thank you Kathy. I’m glad you came back to do a little party dance over here.
Dear readers Kathy is having a commenting party over at Lake Superior Spirit… and their having a hard time finding the toilet paper. It happens. Even on a polite blog like Kathys.
I think part of Creative Potager’s success is the community that was already connected to me in other social media be it Gaia, facebook, twitter or real face-time friends. I share my post links widely or at least I did in the beginning. Now less so. But however it works for you invitation, conversation and being part of community in an area we are interested seems to keep us coming back.
Beautiful images Terrill.
I spend quite a bit of time working with flowers as I find them to be an endless source of creativity. At the moment I am working on portraying them in an abstract way, more like impressionist style painting or the weaving of colours as Debussy does with his music.
Thank you Renee:) I am glad you came by for another visit. I like the idea of impressionist style photography. It has a freedom to it that is more like moving paint than stilling an image for the eye to see.
Me, too, Terrill – I feel precisely the same way. And Len hears me talk about my friends too:
“Oh my gosh Len, Terrill’s power’s been knocked out by the wind again!”
“Len, Sandi’s going to town to get straw for the Chicken Ladies.”
“Jonathan just took Barbara too see bonsai trees. Len, I’d like to go to the botanical gardens to see bonsai trees too.”
Just this morning Len said, “Tell Ted congratulations on the way the World Cup soccer is coming along!”
I can just hear you Laurie and Len too…. and the best part is I know about Sandi and her chicken ladies and who Barbara is and tell Ted that I 2nd Len on offering congratulations on the way the World Cup soccer is going. What can we say? Community is community.
I came over from Kathy’s UP blog, saw your comment about needing 78 (I’m sure it’s less now) hits to get to 12,000 so thought I’d help out!
Loved the flower photos..never get tired of those!
Dawn how sweet of you – what a nice thing to do. Thank you:) I only need 44 more views to reach 12,000. Isn’t that amazing? Well tomorrow is another day.
Terrill – I stopped back in this morning to see if you’d hit 12,000 yet. You’re just a gnat’s whisker away!
Make it a GREAT day!
Yes Laurie close but not quite there yet. I was by your post “This bud is for you” and was impressed with your 8,671 hits as well. With titles like this you might just end up on the Freshly Pressed page.
I came back, too! Almost there… 🙂
Okay Kathy and all you lovely Creative Potager participants – WE HAVE DONE IT! We now have 12, 012 views and counting. I have written a special celebration post “Squishy Hug of Thanks WORDPRESS” Feel free to wander over and see if you can answer the sprout question… it might be my toughest yet:)
There are never too many flower photos…flowers talk to me on many levels…thank you for sharing lovely photos.
Thank you Shirley and glad you dropped in.
Sorry to be so late in responding… but we just finished getting Shirley moved back into her office since repainting and doing new maple floors for her.
What subject inspires my creativity?
Easy decision. I never tire of flowers. I try to buy flowers for Shirley a couple of times a month. I probably have more flowers on my blog than any other photos.
I also like to paint flowers. Right now I am trying to identify the names of the wild flowers that we have here on Mayne Island… and see how many I can photograph. It is a trick to figure out their names correctly.
Sherwin thank you for coming by when you had the opportunity and providing a sprout question response. This is one of the beauties of blogging. We can come by and read and comment when time allows. I am looking forward to your success in naming the many wild flowers on Mayne Island. There is a vine blooming on our hillside which may be some kind of wild honey suckle that I am going to photograph and maybe you will have already discovered its name.
Sherwin, I was just over to your Sunday “Grateful thoughts June 19, 2010” and left a comment.
Dear readers, this is a post you will definitely want to go by and stay awhile, basking in all that life has to offer.
They bring about a peaceful, calming effect in me and the beautiful waves of merriment and lively colors can be heard through these breath-taking photos…they’re absolutely lovely.
Well done, Terrill….you’ve really captured the softness and beauty of mother nature.
(((Bless)))
Thank you mums the word and I am so glad you were able to stop by and off you kind thoughts.