Botanic

Though without a green thumb, I have long been attracted to flowers and plants for their magical complexity and sheer beauty. Something about the rich color and complex structure of these marvels of nature draws my eye. There is some irony in the fact that they exist principally as organs of reproduction, and not simply to delight the human eye, particularly when compared the mammalian version of the same thing. Some suggest that the beauty and perfection of flowers is proof of a deity. Given that that deity has produced some pretty ugly things as well, I am not totally convinced. Nonetheless, divine inspiration or way-station along the endless train of evolution, flowers bring uncommon beauty into our lives.

Flowers and plants also remind us of the transience of life and the beauty in imperfection and decay. Too many artist focus on the perfection of ripe blossoming flowers; but that is an impermanent state. I am attracted to every phase of a plant's life, from bud to blossom to wilted petals and browning leaves. The transitory nature of flowers, their magnificent fragility, is a kind of memento mori for our own lives, a wake up call to remind us to take full advantage of every day that is granted to us.