Dog Rose Hips, 14x18 oil on panel

Following my daughter down a wooded path on a drippy afternoon in Denmark I was stopped by these gorgeous rose hips. They shone like apples in the tangle of their canes and called out to me to touch them or perhaps eat them. It turns out I wouldn’t have suffered any Alice in Wonderland consequences, native cultures have included the hips of the Dog Rose in their cuisine for centuries. Tea, jams, breads, wines and a favored Swedish soup all deliver the high level of vitamin C and antioxidants found in the beautiful fruit of the Dog Rose. 

 Coastal Pittosporum, 36x24 oil on canvas

The Pittosporum is a decorative plant used extensively in landscaping in Southern California. It has small white flowers that are sweetly scented and fruit that bursts open on ripening to release it’s sticky seeds. It is primarily planted for its attractive long lance shaped leaves that have lovely wavy edges. Recently many of our coastal Pittosporum have turned a bright yellow.

 Baja Fairy Duster, 16x20 oil on panel

I came across this plant while walking with a friend in the Coachella Valley in Southern California. The twiggy plant had scarlet tufted flowers which were beginning to droop. The long red stamens had gone a little rusty and and looked like a long used powder puff looking forward to retirement. What drew my eye were the seed pods looping into and around one another seemingly enjoying one another’s company before they crack open and release their seeds. 

 Eucalyptus Seed Husks, 20x18 oil on panel

I love eucalyptus trees. Their distinctive silhouette has always punctuated my favorite vistas, their fragrance moves through my home and their uniquely muscled branches supporting ribbons of swaying blue green leaves offer a vision of strength and grace that I wish the rest of the world would strive for. 

Eucalyptus are  a necessary part of my series “Building the Next Generation” not only because I’ve lived my life under them but because they are an amazing expression of nature’s powerful intent to propagate. Eucalyptus often bear flower buds in formation, blooming flowers, pollinated but still immature seed capsules and fruit reaching maturity in addition to older, empty seed capsules from previous seasons. That’s every phase of reproduction happening at once. You have to love that the grandmothers, the husks that have released their seeds, just hang around to enjoy it all once they’re done!

 Artichokes, 16x20 oil on panel

Artichokes grow wild on the plateaus I have walked my whole life. 4 to 6 feet tall, they are majestic plants and place bursts of purple above the scrub when they flower. The plant is a variety of thistle and has been cultivated regionally as a food since the 8th century BC. I remember my mother teaching our relatives visiting from New England how to pluck a leaf off a cooked artichoke, dip it a lemony Hollandaise Sauce she made, pull it through their teeth and toss what remained into the quickly filling bowl in the middle of the table. Wild, beautiful and delicious - who doesn’t love the artichoke?

 Eucalyptus Starburst, 12x16 oil on panel

Returning from evening walks I'm offered countless versions of this beautiful 

multilayered sight.

 Fierce Offering II,  24x30 oil on canvas

Some 200 species of Agaves grow in the arid regions of the Americas and they easily create hybrids between species. The secret to their survival is their shallow root system that makes the most of scant rain as well as condensation and dew. 

I love not only the plant’s adaptability, but the countless sculptural and colorful forms it takes. Thriving in harsh settings, it tells me that beauty can happen anywhere and that hardship can lead to beauty. This fierce skyward thrust of a ball of seeds expresses to me the power of adaptability.