Beauty

Magnolia tree Attracting me, Gladly blooming. Nothing to prove Only to bloom profusely, Lovely you are with your pink hues. Imbuing all with joy at Spring’s arrival Annulling all the hardship of the winter past. How lovely it was in High Park today. Sheer beauty! The magnolia’s time for blooming has come and irregardless of who’s watching or what anyone’s saying, she’s mesmerizing to everyone. Photographers are there trying to capture her beauty from all angles and positions. Some are taking microcosmic views and others macrocosmic ones. She knows how to be both beautiful and still. ...

“Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized.” ~ Andre Simon All the images in this collage were taken recently when we had a buffet dinner party at our home. Although I’m not a wine-drinker anymore, I was delighted to discover that wine bottles make for good decor. This came upon me quite by accident, one might say. I had decided that the table in the hallway would be a good place for drinks and had placed wine glasses on a tray there and some napkins. To make that space beautiful, I placed a flower arrangement there with some battery-powered lights among the blooms. The only thing I hadn’t put there when I left to go out the evening before the party was the beverages. ...

[caption id=“attachment_448” align=“aligncenter” width=“584” caption=“Beautiful flowers and eyes!”][/caption] Flower-arranging is one of my hobbies. It gives me great delight to choose flowers at the florist’s and to pick flowers from the garden to create an arrangement. Some arrangements I’ve made are small and some have been larger. I’ve made arrangements to give as Birthday presents, Christmas presents, and lots of “thank you’s.” Working with flowers gives me a wonderful feeling. The images in this collage are of a smaller arrangement I did to take to a Memorial Service three weeks ago. I took the photos at home. The eyes in this collage are those of a baby boy nine months old and the caption in the collage was photographed from the cover of a journal in my local bookstore. These three elements just seemed to come together - beautiful flowers, beautiful eyes, and the caption “Beauty for your eyes to see.” ...

 [caption id=“attachment_359” align=“aligncenter” width=“584” caption=“Artsy Peacocks”][/caption] I have a weakness for both artsy paper products and peacocks. I’m fascinated with just how beautiful the covers of journals have become as well as greeting cards and stationary. Peacocks are ostentatious and showy and make a colourful subject to attract the attention of buyers and admirers of peacocks alike. All the images in this collage come from such products. I took them at different times because of their attractiveness and wasn’t sure how I would use them. They just seemed to be begging to be photo-collaged and this is the result. ...

 [caption id=“attachment_321” align=“aligncenter” width=“584” caption=“Lilies”][/caption] This collage was inspired by my neighbour’s garden. I looked across there and was mesmerized and thrilled by what I saw. I couldn’t resist the urge to go there and admire all the beautiful flowers, especially the lilies. This was late yesterday afternoon. We have some lilies in our garden but hers are truly splendid. What a beautiful gift a garden is! I realized that I don’t have to go very far to see beauty - and that I didn’t have to spend any money. All I needed were the eyes to see. ...

 [caption id=“attachment_304” align=“aligncenter” width=“584” caption=“Summer Roses”][/caption] Branches laden with roses, Nature’s bouquet! A feast for the eyes For all to see, Morning, noon, and night. The roses have been abundant beyond belief this summer. It didn’t matter whether one looked through the back window into the back garden or through the front window or door into the front garden. I enjoyed sitting out and enjoying them with their profusion of colour. Colour makes our world and our lives bright and brightens our spirit as humans. ...

[caption id=“attachment_221” align=“aligncenter” width=“584” caption=“Spirea Cantoniensis (Bridal Wreath)”][/caption] If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Audra Foveo A few weeks ago, Spirea Cantoniensis (Bridal Wreath) was in full bloom. My soul, spirit, and every other part of me, was glad to receive this wonderful gift from Mother Nature. This shrub blooms for a short time in Spring and then fades to green foliage. As you can see from this collage, cascades of white blossoms hang on the branches and distill a feeling of purity, simplicity, and sheer beauty. ...

 [caption id=“attachment_213” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] Pottery by Jason L’Abbe[/caption] Birthdays are wonderful celebrations and especially milestone ones like a 60th. It was with great joy that I attended and celebrated my cousin’s 60th birthday with her recently. There was lots of good food, family and friends to eat all of it, and we all had fun together. The birthday cake always brings these special occasions to an exceptionally “sweet” culmination. ...