flowering Klein bottle…

Flowering Klein bottle

Although I’ve know about the concept of a Möbius strip for a long time, I only recently heard of the 3D version of that – the Klein bottle. The idea of bumble bees in a continuous loop of pollen laden bliss as they go in and out, ’round and ’round a transparent flower came into my head almost right away. (However it appears, it was not my intention that the bees be stuck inside but stay because they are charmed!)

Here is Tom’s playful poem to go along with this curious, and more than slightly nerdy, watercolour.

Eine kleine Nachtblume

What flower is this that traps the bees within
without a true embeddable dimension
that separates the genus from the kin
questioning Euclidean extensions?
A blossom blooming from its stellar stem
luring in the unsuspecting bugs
to loop around the warp and weft and then
wonder whether god might be on drugs.
A universe enclosed, unoriented
embeddable imperfectly at best
while merely human minds are oft prevented
from reaching any stable point or rest
while contemplating flowers from other realms
geometries that strive to overwhelm.

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

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happy daisy mandala…

happy daisy!

Water colour has transformed the black and white mandala. There are so many ways this could be done that sometimes it is hard to choose but this time, the colour palette and rendering of the single large flower behind the drawing was in my mind from the beginning …a carefree feeling of summer meadows.

happy daisy – detail

In colour, it is much easier to see the dainty hoverflies. While mimicking the appearance of bees for self-protection, they are stingless. To give an idea of scale, the overall mandala is 8″ in diameter so the yellow centre with all the intricate details is less than 3″ across and the hoverfly is about 1/4″ long which is about full scale – although they do vary in size by species.

Here is Tom’s new sonnet for the colour version. Wonderful!

find the flower soft within the flower
rising moon behind the open fields
where the nightingale sings o’re the bower
of his lover, dreaming as she yields
to seductive songs of other climes:
promises of joy complete, fulfilled
by the long result of flowing time
down the river, through the hollow hills
where ancient magics deep within the Earth
stir, arise from endless eon’s sleep,
go whispering along the banks in mirth
a spell is spoke, a promise made to keep
Beneath the moon two lovers eyes alight
Upon each other, daisies in the night

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

daisy love mandala…

daisy love!

Back to full on summer (well the last gasp of summer anyway) with daisies! They are such a happy flower to my mind. I started this one with a Celtic love knot in the centre and worked my way from more abstract in the middle to more naturalistic at the edges. I love to add some fauna to these mandalas but was wondering what different insect to choose this time. Can you find them? There are two tiny hover flies – or flower flies – lurking in the petals. Cute little pollinators! They will show up more clearly once the mandala has been painted. There’s one in the detail below.

daisy love mandala – detail

Tom has written a wonderful new sonnet for this one. 🙂 He often sees quite different things than I do in these mandalas so it is exciting to see his poem that accompanies, seeming just right, without mirroring exactly.

Radiating energy abounds
from out the core so dense and dark and deep
sinusoidal synergies surround
oscillations making quantum leaps
from stem to stamen, fecund in the sun
anthers fat with lakhs of silent seed
hieroglyphic human hearts are one
while triple-stems lift blossoms high to feed
the insects buzzing lazy through the air
searching out sweet nectar to devour
spreading pollen here and also there
casually ensuring all the flowers
will not be lost too soon in time’s great well
but in the fields the daisies still will dwell.

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

flowering crystal mandala…

flowering crystal mandala

The latest mandala has been water coloured! The colours have been kept very cool in keeping with the feeling of snow and cold I wanted to evoke on this hot sunny summer day! The very centre is red to keep a connection with one of the original inspirations – Queen Anne’s Lace. A tiny red central flower which is common for this wildflower, is to attract insects but I like the whimsy of the folk tale origin – it represents a drop of Queen Anne’s blood pricked from her finger while making the lace.

flowering crystal mandala detail with spring azure butterfly

A detail showing the spring azure butterfly which is one of many insects attracted to Queen Anne’s Lace.

Tom’s new poem for the water-coloured mandala gets to the heart of the cold winter feeling …be refreshed on this summer day!

In the heart of hopeful winter
Crystal flowers spin and grow
Under pressure splinters sinter
Dusting down as drifting snow
Jeweled movement in the centre
Turns the world through double-hours
Ticking as the New Year enters
Through the door of Winter’s tower
Along the moonbeams sliding silver
Drift soft snowflakes to their rest
Keeping seasons in fine kilter
Unsung heroes on a quest
To keep all Nature’s endless round
Turning, never winding down

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

snowflower mandala…

snowflower mandala

What could be more refreshing during August than thinking about snowflakes?! Given the time of year, thinking about snowflake patterns led to wondering about similarities with the wildflower Queen Anne’s Lace. In the end, this mandala is inspired by both but is neither one nor the other – and just when you’ve decided that it is really mostly a snowflake, there’s a butterfly – spring azure – lurking around the perimeter to make it flower-like again. Here’s a photograph that started me thinking about the texture of the Queen Anne’s Lace. (Check out his blog – he’ll make you see wildflowers with new eyes!)

Tom wrote a delightful poem full of both summer and winter for this one!

Subtle turning of the seasons
Marching bands of heat and cold
Crystals ringing changes, reasons
Why all flowers fade and fold
As the season of the snows
Overtakes warm summer lands
Winds of winter skirl and blow
Pearls of ice turn on the strands
Of twisting currents through cold air
Lacing patterns, tracing flowers
Melting as the summer fair
Escapes from frozen empty towers
Life propelled by turning centre
Changes leave before they enter

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

posies in glass jar – oil painting

sunlit posies

A joyful little painting – I’m happy with the way the contrast between light and dark really makes the flowers pop!

Here is Tom’s poem. He says he sees this painting as a metaphor for some beautiful, elegant woman basking on a yacht! 🙂

Overflowing blossom
scarf tied ’round round throat
basking in the sunshine
living life afloat!

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

 

Blossom, branch and sky – oil painting

blossom, branch and sky

This one was experimental in terms of subject and composition. Starting from a photograph (thanks again Claire!) I manipulated the placement and angles and edited the elements down to what I thought best expressed the feeling I was trying to convey. Happy with that aspect! While the photo was showing blossoms in Taiwan, the blossoming cherry trees here in Vancouver have been a wonderful part of my introduction to living here.

And here is Tom’s sonnet for the painting. Too bad the painting doesn’t have the scent of the actual blossoms – but after reading the poem you’ll think it does! 😉

in the core of springtime dwells the flower
bud upon the long enleafened branch
waiting for the bee to grace her bower
releasing pollen’s fecund avalanche
into the cool clear dewy air of morning
to fall through quiet, wafting on the breeze
life itself on zephyrs now aborning
carrying sweet scents from flowered trees
down the city streets and neighbourhoods
across the boulevards and avenues
crying out the joy of cherrywoods
as just the thing to heal a life askew
Early morning joggers pause and breathe
the gift of springtime from the morning trees

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 Tom Radcliffe