STUDIO SATURDAY: THE ART OF COLLECTION

Lesson Two in my Ode to Nature class was all about the art of collection -- about taking long treasure-finding walks in the woods, on the beach, or even in your own yard, then bringing those goodies home and playing with them. We haven't started any sketching yet, but we have all been hunting and gathering, photographing, arranging on textured backdrops, and collecting in clear glass jars. Of course, it is different for each one of us, depending on where we live, and what kinds of things happen to catch our eye. Being the color freak that I am, I couldn't help but notice that there seems to be an abundance of chartreuse and violet colored items in my gardens right now, so I made a collection of those.

Purple Hyacinth Bean Vine

American Beauty Berry

Perilla 'Magilla'

Gomphrena and Gingko Biloba

Remember the poor little hummingbird that did a kamikaze dive into one of our picture windows this week? It made me so very, very sad. But then, as John gathered it in his hands to carry from our upstairs balcony out to the yard, I couldn't help but notice the beautiful chartreuse iridescence of its back feathers. So I ran to grab my camera, and snapped a photo for my collection.

What? You're shocked? You didn't believe me when I told you I was a color freak?