Hello,
Given the tremendous grief and loss in the world just now, November’s monochromatic palette feels like a good fit. Yet, that spark of gold or green is a lifeline. There is good in the world and it’s up to us to recognize, embrace and honor the kindness and generosity that’s playing out alongside war and terror. It seems like too much. It is. But then the hour, the day, or the calendar rolls over and we get another chance to begin again. My words feel clumsy and inadequate. Taken individually, they are. Steadiness lies in the collective community when we choose to look closely with great heart. I’m so glad you’re here.
xo Lorene
As a reminder, this November newsletter is coming to you a week early to accommodate a brief pause while I recover from back surgery. Enormous thanks to all of you who sent healing vibes and best wishes after my announcement in last week’s email — powerful medicine, indeed.
In the Store
Just in time for gift-giving, everything in my online store is in stock, packaged and ready to ship. In the spirit of gratitude and giving, 10% of the proceeds from all November orders will be donated to World Central Kitchen whose mission is to nourish people in response to crises, specifically Palestinians who are suffering and families in Israel displaced by the Hamas terror attack.
As a further heartfelt thank you for your continued support of my words and work, all orders placed between now and the end of November will include a complementary original 4- by 4-inch color study.
Recent writing: “It All Falls Together, this season’s 1-2-3 color recipe brings together the best of the browns” in The Seattle Times.
Recent reading: Make Ink, a Forager’s Guide to Natural Inkmaking, by Jordan Logan and Michael Ondaatje [affiliate Bookshop link]
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Color my world
October 18, 2023
While green is typically the dominant color in a natural landscape, it can be the hardest hue to mix and match. Recently I treated myself to three new greens from Daniel Smith to add to my rather haphazard mash-up of paints. For those of you who I know will ask, the colors are: Undersea Green, Sap Green, and Serpentine Genuine. The names alone are wonderful and the colors are even better. The new paints have taken their place in my messy palette and, as per usual, I’ve thrown away the packaging with the names. All my colors are mixed on the fly as I’m creating each color study, which means that I never know definitively what went into the final swatch.
This message is brought to you by GREEN
October 19, 2023
It’s all in your perspective—> look at both sides.
Care to join me on another trip around the sun and keep trying to look closely with great heart? Let’s go!
October 20, 2023
About last weekend…
Since 2005 I’ve been making an annual pilgrimage to the only Osage orange tree that I know of. It’s in the Yakima Arboretum, just off the freeway. This seasonal rhythm, 150 miles each way, is a milestone I look forward to every year.
The color, a luminous green with a touch of blue, the fragrance a tangy citrus with an earthy pong. These weird berries, sometimes know as money brains or hedge apples mark time and imprint on my senses.
This just in: one of the littles called an Osage orange a “broccoli ball”, which it shall ever more be named.
October 21, 2023
Blackberry lily (Belamcanda chinensis) returned to the garden this year. Orange flowers in summer, glossy black berries & seeds in fall. Practically 🎃 perfect.
October 22, 2023
Oh my! Of the many gifts that I receive from this daily practice — peace of mind, deep awareness, connection — the most unexpected is paint! Attention is the heart of this dalliance, watercolor is the medium I use to record my observations. Not incidental, but not primary.
I have a high/low mash up of paints that I use to mix all my colors. It’s not lost on me that those pigments that lean “high” — beautiful hues, finely ground saturated pigments, have all been gifted to me. Most often by friends, but occasionally paint makers send me samples to play with.
My paints are like a vocabulary that I mix and match to describe the colors I see in the natural world. Now I feel like I’m learning a new language.
Yesterday, courtesy of my friend Sarah and the Stoneground Paint Co, I received a set of handmade paints in 24 delicious hues. I swatched the paints on the supplied test sheet to reveal their colors and then clipped a few blossoms from my Oncidium orchid that’s chosen to bloom this year (another gift) for this little 4- by 4-inch color study.
Color me delighted!
October 23, 2023
When words fail, all I can do is throw love at suffering… along with attention and resources. But first, love.
October 24, 2023
Plants, shells, sticks, and other pieces of the natural world have taught me to see, which of course is to care — to look closely with great heart.
There is a constancy and forgiveness to a daily practice — there’s always tomorrow. Just keep showing up, a body in motion stays in motion. I’ve always wondered what might interrupt these daily breadcrumbs, now I know. The motion of this gardener’s body has been restricted for some time now. I’m weary of it and vowed to address the issue in 2023. This week I’m having back surgery and that will be the break in the dailiness of my colors.
I’m okay with that.
When I can, I’ll be right back at my art desk, nose ridiculously close to a leaf or a shell or seedpod, mixing colors.
Thank you for reading a handmade garden, a weekly dose of natural color and observations in your inbox. To show my appreciation, I’m continuing to offer discounted subscriptions through the end of October.
Light the night
Light the (Halloween) night and guide little trick or treaters with these tap-on caning jar lanterns made with easy-to-find hardware store materials. This is a super simple (and safe) project to do with kids (of all ages) and makes a charming gift for the holidays.
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