A single small plant, a gift in 2003, grows for 17 years, blooming regularly just before Thanksgiving, as if feeling our longing for color, just as the days darken and trees stand baren. It was a gift from my mother-in-law, its abundance reflecting her deep love for the keeping & caring of all kinds of plants. During this time of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for her and for this pink cactus. For me, photographing the spent blooms has also been an invitation to see the beauty embodied in decay, especially during the past 3 years, when she has been in decline. Last week, the pink blossoms lay beside stale bread & a banana peal. 3 years ago, those blossoms lay on fresh snow, mixed with spent leaves & flowers. I doubt Pam ever imagined the powerful impact that small plant with its pink blossoms would have on me. It was this image from 2017 that inspired me to begin sharing my work in new ways, including making a set of greeting cards with a variety of images from that year. This
first 'dried flowers' photograph is part of my original "Compost Composition" greeting card collection. There is still a limited supply available, which I hope to get out into the world. Please express your gratitude for the US Post Office by writing cards to those you love. Rumor has it that these images make people feel good. Here's a link.
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I believed & it was true. Wear a pair of black leather boots & you, too, will feel powerful & confident. It's been five years since I first purchased these on consignment, polished them up and faked it till I made it. They worked their magic. After wearing them a few times, I started to actually believe in my power - - not in a dominating way, but in a deep visceral kind of way that flowed from my fascia and radiated outward. These boots lead me to the edge of my known world.... If I step off the path, I might harm this ecosystem, but if I stay on it, I may never come to understand it. What if it's not even a binary question. Maybe it's about stance and learning to tread more lightly. And
maybe there is more power in a backward glance made with curiosity, wonder & the core of who I am, than there is in a pair of boots & a projection of false confidence. Colors. Textures. Shapes. Invitations to pay attention. Gorgeous Garbage. Mixed up and mingled. Curious about time & the need to document how I use it...Fear emerges: Will we have the time we need? Thoughts shift. If my daily calendar is empty, did I exist? If we live without record, do we exist? Or, is there something more powerful I don't yet understand that connects us to the spirit of things & not things themselves? Trump's election sparked my initial focus on compost. Since then, the pile has shifted from metaphor for America (a diverse soup), to an invitation to explore my relationship to just about everything and everyone...including myself. So I've been hanging out with tea-cups submerged in ponds and feeling the power of moss while in prayer. I wonder: Will I take this invitation to change, to emerge from this time with renewed interest in what's possible? Or will I hold on to what I know & to what feels safe because I am afraid? For me,
it's a choice, & fear is not an option. |
Evelyn R. Swett
reframing the narrative in community and with myself, finding transformation and joy in the mess of it all Let's ReFrame!
is a somewhat regular 'viewsletter' that hopefully inspires joy & transformation. It will include links to recent blog posts & updates about my work. Oh, and I promise I won't share your information (that would be so uncool) and I don't actually do promotions, but that text is required. Archives
March 2021
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