Reminder:No Posting Today: Autumn Travel

As I indicated in my first entry, an "unofficial" post, before the regularity of this blog there will be no posting today, October 16th 2010. At the time I posted this information, I knew I'd be making a trip to see the fall foliage, but had no way of knowing it would be to Vermont Stage in Burlington Vermont to see Donna Wandrey, a client who purchased wrap-around cards, whom I wrote about in an earlier post. She is playing Amanda in Tennessee William's play, The Glass Menagerie. I referred to this play in a previous post relating to memories and note-cards. That was back in the winter - long before Donna's accepting the role of Amanda. I will be back to my regularly scheduled posting on October 23rd, 2010 but will post a review before then.

Juan's Breathtaking Installation of Trivets Allows Donna's Legacy

The blooming of my Clematis paniculata in my urban garden, is in full swing; the vine and its flowers are playfully wrapping around Juan's Installation as evidenced in the image posted above this entry.The precious delicate flowers against the rough brick provide a legacy to Donna, the grower from Cheerful Cherry Farms (whom I posted about in an earlier post). Donna sold me the Clematis paniculata plants a couple of years prior on that hot May morning, when she wore a wool cap and winter coat. I say legacy, because a few weeks ago I went down to Union Square (USQ) to tell Donna about the growth of my Clematis paiculata, but I only saw her husband, Jim.It was unusual not to see her with him, and I suspected that something had happened to her, but I said nothing. Recently I returned to USQ again, and Donna still was not there. This time I asked Jim about her.

He told me that she had been very sick and had died. He remarked that I must have noticed that she had worn a wool coat and hat on days when the temperatures had been very hot. Evidently she'd been quite ill for a long time, and her husband had even suggested that she not make the trip from the nursery to vend at USQ. He laughed when I told him what she had said about my eyesight. She was a real 'diamond in the rough' and I think of her in the morning when I water my garden - Donna, the diamond in the rough, like my delicate Clematis paniculata flowers climbing about the rusty trivets that Juan so carefully placed on my tattered brick wall. I am in the process of producing a collection of cards with images of the stages of growth of my Clematis paniculata, which will be called Donna's Legacy.

L. angustifoia and Espresso

Lavender is known as the queen of herbs and you can see why from the beautiful photo posted above which was taken in my urban terrace garden.The honeybees love it too, so, it is hard to think of cutting back the beautiful grey-green textured leaves. For now, I plan to feature it as an image in my herb-themed cards that I wrote about in my posting on chives, and I will make the image available in both petite and large fold-out cards, so please watch my web-site for details as they become available. Meanwhile, when my lavender is not posing for a photograph, it can eventually be used in potpourri, and I've recently discovered a recipe for an unusual subtle dessert to serve with after dinner expresso. The dessert is a lavender swizzle stick, and the recipe is as follows:

Make a confection from whole sprigs of just picked lavender blossoms. Beat three egg-whites and 1/4 cup of sugar until frothy. Dip the lavender sprigs into the mixture and coat them. Set aside to dry for two hours on a sheet of non-stick parchment paper. Serve with after-dinner espresso when entertaining guests in your garden.

Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, Avellana Corylus, 'Contorta'

I've had my Avellana Corylus, 'Contorta' (Harry Lauder's Walking Stick) known as Contoured Haze-Nut to most people, in mu urban garden for a little over two years. The burgundy leaves on this shrub are beautiful, but I like the shrub for its unusual branching pattern so much that, two years ago, I took the Long Island Railroad from Penn Station in Manhattan, to Bayside, (in Queens) to pick up this shrub. It was a hot July day in 2008 when I did this, and the subways and trains were packed with locals and tourists, making it difficult for me to navigate the crowds carrying this shrub. Once home I had to carry it up five flights of stairs, but it has been well worth the effort. The winding, twisted branches are a joy to behold, and it will be an interesting subject for the Petite or Large Wrap-Aroud Card Collection. Details will announced when they become available, so please continue to visit this blog as well as my web-site for details.

Salvia officinalis (Tri-Colour Sage) Ready to Harvest

The herb, Salvia officinalis (Tri-Colour Sage) has aromatic foliage with white and pink streaks. It adds a nice touch to my urban garden, even though it is not as hardy as types of sage, so it is a good idea to  harvest it to use it in omelets, soups, and bean dishes. The image posted above, Tri-Colour Sage Ready to Harvest, is seen rendered in invitation format, but the image is also available as a petite fold-out card (see the back page of the paper-brochure). For purchase information, please visit the store-front pages of my web-site .

Happy Belated 1/2 Year: or July 4th Eve: Celebrating with Garden Sodas

Having herb-infused cocktails (or grown-up sodas) on a summer night in my urban terrace garden is a great way for us  to belatedly ring in the half-year (July 1st 2010). It is a tradition for us to celebrate a 1/2 year every July 1st, and tonight we are doing it belatedly on the eve of July 4th. My SODA sign (seen in the photograph posted above), a thrift-shop find in the late 1970s, has been the center of many roof-top celebrations and is also the subject for some of my petite wrap-around cards as well as my large wrap-around cards. These may be viewed in the store-front pages on my web-site where they are available for purchase. The images with the SODA sign make a great invitation when you are inviting friends, family, and colleagues to a soirée.

Buds: The Potential of Developing into Something Beautiful

Every flower bud has the potential of developing into something beautiful. At this time, I have an array of buds in my  urban terrace garden, and the exquisite  bud in the photograph above is from my tree peony, Paeonia suffruitticosa, a shrub that is known to last longer than the gardeners that plant them, so at least I will leave some legacy. I had hoped to leave some legacy of meaningful writings, but often I fail to write about things that interest me as it might prove to be embarrassing, or hurt someone's feelings; and so these days, my muse is busy with my gardening endeavors and my peony tree, which I have had for only one year, has proved to be inspirational.
For a number of years I've had fun watching various vines trail up a pole at the northeast corner of my terrace. When I first started gardening I had Morning Glories and this annual vine gave me pleasure for a number of years, especially seeing their heart-shaped leaves and vibrant azure colored flowers. At that time, I was not a "morning person" and often missed the flowers, which were only open from dawn to mid-morning. However, Morning Glories had deep meaning for an elderly friend of mine who often recalled a poem she wrote about them in Catholic Elementary School, claiming the nuns wrote the last line - a punchline -which can be read (in her handwriting) below:

The Morning Glory vine's short life caused me to replace it with Clematis lanuginosa ('Canidia') which I  bought at USQ - The Union Square Greenmarket in New York City, but I have included a link to detailed information about this plant in this post. This vine trailed happily up the pole, and because it is a perennial, I enjoyed the flowers for years and even rendered a photograph that I took of it into a petite wrap-around greeting card as seen below:

This Clematis also provided inspiration for the design of  general all occasion large wrap-around cards as well as wedding invitations, program covers for special events as indicated in my paper brochure and is part of a mini-movie in my on-line brochure. A sample is posted below:

Information about purchasing these products is available on my web-site. These will be the last of the Clematis lanuginosa themed works, as this plant was attacked by web-worms whose unwelcome presence was discussed in a previous post. Fortunately, I was able to replace it with another Union Square Greenmarket find, the H.F. Young Clematis. A link is posted here to provide information on this plant but I do not know the grower who posted that link. I do know that I am looking forward to seeing the H.F. Young Clematis flowers if their beautiful buds (seen in the photograph below) are any indication of how gorgeous the flower will be.

What I said at the top of the post bears repeating, "Every flower bud has the potential of developing into something beautiful."

Diamond Notch Falls

As the winter winds down, I often think about other seasons. Looking through my prints taken in summer, spring, and fall seasons, I now realize that O'Henry's reference to a single, "last leaf" which is not the only "single leaf" that has influenced me.

I've even noticed other 'last' leaves. Once upon an October day, while hiking near Diamond Notch Falls, in upstate New York, I noticed another last leaf, photographed it, and later, using the same method that I employed for my Petite Wrap-Around Card Collection, (discussed in a previous post), I created the Large Wrap-Around  Card Collection. I titled the image of that lone leaf near Diamond Notch Falls, Late Autumn, and it can be seen posted above this entry. It is available for purchase on my web-site. (It is also available for a closer look by downloading my paper-brochure.) 

The size of all of the large fold-out cards is 5" by 8.5," and so in addition to serving as a chic greeting card, they also are appropriate for program covers to use for classy wedding invitations, to announce a confirmation or bar mitzvah, or even to use at select functions and venues such as fund-raisers, concerts or lectures. These cards should be viewed the same way as the Petite Wrap-Arounds. The right side of the image is the front of the card/invitation/program-cover and the left side is the back. It is blank inside but text can be inserted with your choice of fonts. Late Autumn, as well as other cards, was recently purchased by the very talented and respected actress, Donna Wandrey, to use for Thanksgiving cards.

Most, but not all, of my larger wrap-arounds have been posted on my web-site, where they are available to purchase. The ones not posted there but that can be seen below may be purchased by contacting me through the email information posted on my web-site. These are titled Crepe- de- Chine, Very Clematis, and Silver Thyme.

Though the new year is only a little over a  month underway, its not too early to dream about spring and to think of cards or invitations you might want to send during that time. The cards posted above will enhance any soirée that you may be planning to celebrate The Rites of Spring.

If you are worried about not being green by sending a paper card, these cards (like the Petite Fold-Out cards) also have a double-life. The unique feature of these cards is that the image is continuous. Therefore, each of the large wrap-around cards/invitations/program covers folds out into a print that is 8.5" by 11" as seen below in this image, Dogwood Yawning taken in Staten Island, a borough in New York City.

This unusual feature of a card/invitation/event program cover becoming a beautiful print suitable for framing is a wonderful way to preserve an occasion.

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's Day

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupped the chamber-door;
Let in a maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.

Yes, Ophelia, you are right; tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day, and while I’ve yet to create a card specific to this occasion, I have been somewhat sentimental about it. Pictured above is one of my first valentine’s received in grade school — fourth grade — when as students we were assigned to bring Valentines to class. This one was from Michael Brink, a boy who lived in a much more posh area than me. I felt so good that it said “song of love” perhaps like Laura in Tennessee Williams’s play The Glass Menagerie, but after he sent me that card, Michael never spoke to me in grade school or high school. I haven’t saved the valentine because I harbored a crush on him. I just liked the card and the feeling I had when I first received it.

Another Valentine’s card (posted below) that I’ve saved is from Catherine, the subject of one of my black and white portraits and also featured in my black and white prints including Dinner is Served, Cocktails and Engaging Conversation, and Thanksgiving in Riverdale, the print discussed in my eighth posting. All these prints can be viewed in the black and white gallery on my web-site.

Catherine sent me this Valentine upon my receiving five straight “A' s” in undergraduate school and included her acknowledgement of this in the card:

I had saved this correspondence because not only had I been inspired by Catherine in a way that caused me to photograph her, but I had hoped to write about her one day. As you will see, in her obituary posted below, she was an interesting woman.

Paper cards stored in desk drawers provide great inspiration on days when there seems none to be had. Just looking at them can cause a wealth of ideas to come forward during dry spells in the creative process. There is nothing that comes close to a personal card to preserve a moment and I offer a wide variety of unique cards that can be viewed more closely in my on-line brochure or on my web-site.