Smell So Good!

Mmmmm,the lilacs are in bloom! They smell so good. If I walk across the front yard I can't help but take in the sweet odor of the tiny flowers that pack a punch of an olafactory impact. Is there a lesson in here? Power can come in small packages maybe?

These lilacs are so delicate and feminine yet they accomplish their duty (of permeating the air with scent) better than most larger flowers. They don't deny their destiny and they also don't insist on it all year round. They have a very short and defined amount of time to do their thing. And they do it so well.

I have cut some branches and brought them inside. The house is full of lilac energy (competing with the even-more-delicate -- Lilies of the Valley -- but that's a story for another day). The energy in the house is good.

And if you didn't know -- lilacs are very hardy. You can cut them down and they will just keep on growing back. They will accomodate the space within which they are allowed to grow. They can grow tall or be kept low. They are easy-going, more concerned with their broad destiny that with little details. I like that.

Where it Began

It all started about 8 years ago for me when I was burned out from doing social work and I lamented to my ex-husband, "I just want to take pictures of pretty flowers!" Being an action-taker he said, "Well then do it!" This was the moment I picked up my camera and went outside to the lilac tree in my front yard and took this photo. I immediately felt a kinship with it as a new, fresh, budding blossoming creation that had all the potential in the world. This photo became the first greeting card I made when I turned my photography into something tangible. For three years after that I pursued flower and nature photography and making them into prints and art cards. After a while I started yearning for something more tactile and "crafty." I very randomly stumbled on a book about enameling and was attracted to all the bright and strong colors I saw. To me the small jewelry pieces in the book looked like the small bursts of color I loved when photographing flowers. I immediately bought the book and started learning. That was when my love of colors and flowers went from 2D photography to 3D enameling and Blooming Enamels was born.

Psychedelilacs

I truly can not get enough of my Lilacs.

Each bud, budding flower or bloom is so unique and special to my eyes.

The immensity of their variations is like stars in the sky to me -- and I am left feeling such contentment and security in my amazement at the force behind their beauty...

Enjoying the Journey

I *adore* lilacs -- especially the purple ones.

Ever since I was a little girl purple was my favorite color and to see it so unabashedly expressed in nature, by the lilac bush, is exciting for me.

These purple lilac budlings will be bursting forth any day now and although I am waiting patiently for them to take their time in emerging, I am very much looking forward to when they do.

But even before the flowers do emerge I find the budlings to be just as intriguing as the sweet and beautiful flowers they will become. I enjoy looking closely at all the intricate patterns of the buds as they crowd next to each other making their space, and place, in the future bunch. Although I am eager for the bloomed flowers, I slow myself down to enjoy observing the budlings just as much.

It's another reminder for me to value the journey as much as the destination.

View from My Kitchen Window

This is what I see when I'm doing dishes in the early morning hours of spring.

It's my neighbor's gargage and his old fence that are nestled together with a blooming lilac bush.

Such a pleasing sight!