Under the hush of firs

are my gardens

darkened and damp from

rains that plunge

out of a sky heavy with ocean

that choppy mirror clacking across the downs

baptizing the earth

again and again

it’s magnolia season

the blooms poke their callow heads out

from tangled nests of branches

as the glades try to hush them

but May will not relent

the dogwood buds slip open like soup dumplings

that will drift along soon

into needle-lined graves

the light-tangled juniper

hides festoons of greying berries

pale and prickled

my child, newborn

squirms across the lawn

what a miracle the blinks of light

through the maples are

in her cardinal spring

About the show:

I have a small collection of new small original works entitled “Cardinal Spring” in Nahcotta Gallery’s annual Enormous Tiny Art group show. The works in this collection are studies of my gardens in coastal Washington in Gig Harbor (near Seattle). Each piece was conceived of and started while I was in Washington this spring and summer and completed in my studio in Colorado. Painted with a variety of mediums on raw St. Mary’s cotton canvas, they explore the textures and tones of the gardens during the lushest months of the year, a spring that was my first spent tending to these gardens and also my first spring as a mother. The newness of both these conditions granted me the gift of new perspective as I sought out the details in every corner with the intention of discovering them for myself, and to share them with my new daughter. Creating the collection was an exercise in paying attention to the quiet extravagance of life.

How to purchase:

The works will be available for purchase online at 10am Mountain Time on Thursday, 8/24 at this link. At that time the page will populate and purchase options will be available. All works will remain in the gallery for the duration of the exhibition through Sept. 30, 2023. The gallery ships worldwide. Please direct questions to the gallery director Emily Lead (emily@nahcotta.com).