A rose from my old garden.
Lately I've been pondering on this little saying, "bloom where you are planted." It has served me pretty well in getting through trials and making the best of the situations I am in, good or bad. For example, I used to live on a 3/4 acre parcel that was sandwiched between a metal fabricator and a landscape business. It wasn't exactly the quiet peaceful environment that I would prefer for my creative thought processes. What it did have was a complete ceramics studio and lots of space to grow a garden. I had no idea how long I would be living there but I wanted to make the most of it. I actually had studio space on the property five years before I moved onto the place and this gave me ample to time to experiment with gardening. By the time I moved in I had a gorgeous garden of vegetables and flowers. I immediately went about planting fruit trees for fun, food and shade. The property was hotter than blazes in the summertime which was great for the garden but hard on the people.
Gifts from the garden.
I lived there for another five years enjoying the fruits of my labors, making pottery and playing with my cats. When extreme life circumstances made it necessary for me to move it was extremely difficult. I had to give up everything. The cats, the garden, all the studio equipment. But hey! It was a necessary step down another path. I know that it is important to have the right perspectives. That doesn't mean it is easy. I can't really garden anymore. No sun. I could have a shade garden but somehow that doesn't really motivate me. What has been motivating me is to focus more on my art which has been great. I find myself creating my blooms on my pottery and coming up with fresh ideas that I would have no time for if I was out in my garden so much. I hope to have a garden again some day and maybe another studio. For now, I have the university studio which suits me just fine and good friends. Oh yeah, I did get to keep one of the cats and we snuggle a lot!
Tazzie waiting for birds. I don't have this sweet girl anymore.
