Garden

Ferida Wolff writes: I try not to casually dismiss each plant’s possibilities of expressing itself. I feel the same about people. We each have the possibility of offering the best of ourselves and especially in this difficult pandemic time, I hope that consideration of others is part of our social interaction. I notice lately that neighbors are waving and smiling when I take a walk, a friendly and welcome but sensitive distant greeting. more »

One life-affirming pleasure awaiting visitors will be found in The Huntington Art Gallery’s Works on Paper Room. There, displayed against walls of saturated blue, is a resonant, even elegiac, visual narrative. The story that it tells of life and renewal is not on paper, but on 12 uniquely bordered, luminous, ceramic plates revealing in keenly observed detail “The Autobiography of a Garden,” a month-to-month evolution of a real-life garden in Providence, Rhode Island. The exhibition, on view through July 5, 2021, is the work of American painter and printmaker Andrew Raftery and is the product of his inventive, modern-day approach to the transfer of print images onto ceramic, a process dating back to the mid-18th century. Also on view at RISD is Beth Katelman's exhibit. And don't forget the Huntington's shop! more »

Ferida Wolff writes: [A] duality of beauty and pain is a reminder to me of what is going on nowadays. Underneath the beauty of our country lie the spines that effect so many of us. The pain caused by conquering, slavery, exclusion, and racism that has resurfaced in recent times all over America has been in us from the beginning but we haven’t been addressing the causes – until now. I hope that we are finally becoming able to appreciate our incredible diversity, to value the beauty that all people bring and to take out the spines that discrimination has implanted in our country’s body. Only then will we be able to truly appreciate our amazing American garden. more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: My other impulse purchases on Amazon include a string of mini, solar-powered lights to brighten my quarantined balcony; a label maker (which I have used to make two labels since buying it a year ago); a roll-up keyboard (in place of the Steinway I can’t afford and have no room for) which I immediately rolled up and put in a drawer before plinking even one melody; a five-pound bag of gum drops (yes, five pounds!); essential oils (which were certainly not essential); make up (too little, too late), and a garden kneeler. No, I don’t have a garden. I live in a third-floor condo. But I’m hoping it will help me get up when (not if) I fall so I don’t have to call the firemen (though, actually, their visits are the highlight of my social life). more »