Saturday, May 19, 2012

Two Peonies



A warm afternoon for gardening in the East Bay. These borders have seen foxgloves in many different colors over the years but never one like this before, completely white. 



Above, a cluster of small roses suspended upside down from the eldest of the climbers.Below, a single peony (source of Mabel Watson Payne's middle name) in a Single Stem Vase from Heath Ceramics.  



At bottom, the dear face of Mabel Watson Payne, a black and white photograph I made quite recently and printed in big size and put into a narrow silver frame for a Mother's Day present last weekend for Mabel's grandmother.

I had wondered where she would put it in a house where ornamental objects (though abundant) are seldom changed or moved. I had definitely not expected to find it accompanied by a harmonious blue-and-white assemblage. And how quickly the picture had taken on a distinctive artefactual life of its own. I was shown that the eyes will follow a moving spectator around the room, just as the eyes of painted portraits will occasionally seem to do.