First Snow

I love winter, so I'm always really excited about the first snow. Yesterday I hiked solo up to my work site in the mountains and it was covered in bright white snow accompanied by gorgeous views from above the clouds overlooking Boulder.

I love seeing the last little lingering alpine flowers, that you think would be so frail, peeking out of the snow in defiance as if to remind winter that it's not quite time yet... but soon.

William's Antique Nature Guides

Last weekend when we had a routine Sunday night dinner at a friend's house, out of the blue he gave me this little set of antique nature guides. I love books and wildflowers and have a small but growing collection of antique wildflower books. So for me, this is a spectacular combination and an incredibly lovely set of books.  

Many of the flower names have changed but all my old favorites are in there and I love perusing the small picture plates.The copyrights range from 1909 to 1915 and inside each cover is a little handwritten inscription indicating that these were a graduation gift to William N. Gahr from his brother Edmond W. Gahr in 1929.  It made me wonder what William was graduating from and why he might have been given these particular books.   

I googled William N. Gahr and what's strange is that the friend who gave me the books said that he received them from his brother who lives in D.C.  The only William N. Gahr that comes up in google was born in 1910, died in 1978 and was a WWII veteran.  And he's buried in Denver, which is where I am and where I received the books.  It's a mystery as to how William's books ended up in D.C. more than 30 years after he died.

It's strange too how I somehow have his books now and they have come full circle.  But I love them and plan to keep them forever.  I hope William would approve.

Postage Stamps of the Week!

I don't generally have much interest in U.S. postage stamps, because they tend to be less interesting to me than those from other countries, but I found these buried in my desk today and thought I would share.  Because you know I'm a bit obsessed with all flower related stamps...

Summer days are almost here again!

I live for summer wildflowers and with spring beginning, I know the summer wildflowers are not far behind....

I'm really lucky because I get paid to spend my summers wandering amongst these beauties and they never cease to amaze me.  I spend a lot of time making detailed drawings of flowers for my work and I can never get over how elegantly detailed and complex nature has been with such small and short-lived organisms.  Next time you get the chance, grab a hand lens and inspect her work for yourself- you won't be sorry.

Inspiration Abounds!

Thanks to Victoria over at www.sfgirlbybay.com for starting the blogger mashup of over 300 bloggers posting about what inspires them most!  You can find the schedule and links to all other bloggers here .  

There are a lot of things that inspire me such as colorful art, plants, the ocean, vintage looking photography, prints, books, my husband's poetry, live music, hiking above treeline, walking through the city on a snow day, riding my bike (preferably downhill of course...), interesting typography, birds and many more things too numerous to list but I've highlighted a few of my favorites.

Travel

Perhaps the one single thing, that encompasses a lot of other types of inspiration is traveling.  I'm slowly working my way around the world and I never cease to be inspired by new sights, hills to climb, languages to learn, culture to be immersed in and generally wondering what's around the next corner because you just really have no idea.  My travels inspire my life and art, so I thought I would share with you some of my favorite and inspirational places from some of my more recent travels.

My list of favorite books is ever changing and constantly growing.  These are just a few of my all-time favorites which inspire me every time I pick them up.

Poetry is a definite inspiration- my favorite published poem being: Mending Wall by Robert Frost and anything by Anna Akhmatova.  My hubdude has written me stacks of poetry which might be the first thing I would grab if my house was burning down.  Lately I've been inspired by the short, generally calming words of Haiku.

I also find a lot of inspiration in art, particularly earth art and wide open spaces like my summer 'office'.  It's hard not to be inspired on a daily basis when working in such a beautiful place where anything seems possible.

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I find all things plant related to be incredibly inspiring because the diversity, resilience and hardiness of plants is simply amazing, not to mention their looks.  I gave up my 'career' and traded it in to study plants because I find them so incredible and I've never been happier.  These are some of the miniature beauties that I find so inspiring and have the biggest impact on my art. The colors shapes and texture are amazing, and all from a little miraculous seed. 

Tomorrow's 'blog it forward' blogger is Style Bust which you can find here: http://stylebust.com/  
and if you really want a big dose of great 'blog it forward' posts check out the full list on sfgirlbybay's schedule here  http://www.sfgirlbybay.com/blog-it-forward/

It's Spring Somewhere Already.... Here's Proof!

No, it really is spring somewhere and soon it will be spring here too.  I'm dying to plant flowers, find a beach to travel too and just laze around outdoors.  In the meantime, I torture myself with great photos from around the world like these and eagerly await my own blue, sunny days in Denver with flowers blooming in profusion.

These photos were all taken with Holga cameras and I'm especially excited for spring this year so that I can take my own new Holga out and explore the world with this new perspective.  I just love these shots that I found and wanted to share....

Sound of spring by Jeansman found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeansman/

Daff and camelia by mccheek found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mccheek/453292808/

Spring explodes by kevin dooley found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/2406318231/

Early spring #2 by noe** found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/noe0712/381680406/

Early spring #1 by noe** found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/noe0712/381680406/

Pool games are not a joke by chaps1 found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_light_show/1318026271/

Chester the seaful by rhett maxwell found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhettmaxwell/3642731112/

By graham bones found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahambones/2747433084/

Holga misiones Flowers, Yaracuy, Venezuela by rahuldlucca found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rahul3/2178950545/

Flower by Shoichi Masuhara found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoichimasuhara/3551753122/