Wall Garden

July 6, 2012 by 5 Comments
NYBG

Vertical Gardening © 2012 Bo Mackison

Do not judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

When we visited the New York Botanical Gardens in early June, several vertical gardens decorated one of the seating areas. I was fascinated with the many textures and colors that the gardeners fit into such a small footprint. A wonderful example of the seeded earth, created with the gardeners’ vision and love of plants.

—————

Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Bo is always happy to find wonderful examples of the seeded earth!

Filed Under: Photography, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lilies in Monet’s Garden

June 13, 2012 by 4 Comments
Lilies in Refection Pool

Lilies in Monet’s Garden © 2012 Bo Mackison

It’s on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly. ~ Claude Monet

The current exhibit at the New York Botanical Gardens is Monet’s Garden, located in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory on the grounds, truly a spectacular site for this themed exhibit.

NYBG’s website describes the exhibit as such — “Claude Monet was an avid gardener who once reflected that perhaps flowers were the reason he became a painter. This exhibition explores the legacy of his idyllic garden in Giverny, France, transforming the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory into a floral masterpiece of diverse plants, bold colors, and dramatic design . . . Monet’s most famous subjects, water lilies, many of them the varieties he grew, are featured in the Conservatory Courtyard Pools.”

The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory opened in 1902. This Victorian-style glasshouse is home to A World of Plant which is its permanent exhibit – a series of gardens that takes you on a tour of plants found around the world. After walking through the crowded Monet’s Garden exhibit – yes, our only chance to visit was on a Sunday afternoon! — we also walked through the permanent gardens.

I could have wandered through the many displays for days and days, but I only had a few hours, hours I was grateful for. Such an opportunity to fill the well of my senses –  fragrances, textures, colors. Ahhh.

I could not resist the challenge of taking photographs of a few of the lilies that are now in bloom in the courtyard pools. The reflection of the conservatory in the pools added an element of grandeur and a vintage look to the photographs of the water lilies.

The New York Botanical Gardens, including its many historical structures, is a National Historic Landmark.

—————–

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She spent a glorious afternoon visiting and photographing the New York Botanical Gardens, and highly recommends a garden visit if you are in the New York area.

Filed Under: Photography, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Descent at Twilight

June 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Approaching NYC

Approaching NYC © 2012 Bo Mackison

Living on the edges means recognizing those places and experiences that do not offer easy answers, those fierce edges of life where things are not as clear as we hope them to be. There is also beauty in the border spaces, those places of ambiguity and mystery. ~ Christine Valters Paintner

I am in New York City.

Sherpa and I flew in a few days ago, had a beautiful view of the city as we landed. Twinkling lights, rows of brighter street lights, the sun already set in the west but still lighting the skies with those border colors between day and night – the ribbons of yellows, oranges, purples, grays.

We spent a busy weekend walking the streets in Midtown, walking the criss-cross of trails and paths and roads in Central Park. We visited with our eldest who took the train in from Long Island. She’s lived in a half-dozen places in NYC, and so, is more than qualified to know the ins and outs. We had a couple of marvelous meals in out-of-the-way spaces, and of course fit in a few touristy type activities, too.

But today Sherpa heads to a training course – the real reason we are here – and our daughter returned to LI for the start of the work week. That leaves me here, on my own-some, with plenty of plans and a couple of maps and a list of places I would love to visit. And yet, here I am, still in the hotel room at 8:30, in that place of ambiguity, on my own personal border where I will have to sacrifice my comfort if I want to explore the beauty in the border spaces, in the places I am not familiar with, nor at ease with.

There was a time, not all that many years ago, where I chose to stay in the hotel while others took care of their city business, waiting for someone to return. Only then would I venture beyond the places and spaces I knew.

This spring I managed living solo near Tucson, a frequent visitor to a desert I did not know, but taught myself to love by frequent visits. And so I shall do the same with the streets of New York. Perhaps it isn’t my beloved desert nor my familiar Midwest prairies and forests, perhaps in my mind I am as far from the Sonoran Desert or the Northwoods as I can imagine. But I am on my way, out the door.

The only way I will learn to love this new space is to explore it, be okay with the ambiguity and embrace the mystery.

So . . . off I go.

————

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She lives in the Midwest, loves the Southwest, and is now exploring the Big Apple. With her camera, of course!

Filed Under: Photography, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Looking through the Window Glass

May 29, 2012 by 2 Comments
Parq Central View

Parq Central View © 2012 Bo Mackison

Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. ~ Rumi

A handsome, hand-crafted door. Century old leaded glass with beveled edges. The view of the park across the street is framed so perfectly in the arched panes. I think the abstract view through the slightly imperfect glass panes is lovely – wavering colors melding from one hue to another, the cool palette of colors – blues, greens, purples.

But no matter how lovely the door’s wood nor the hand-crafted window panes’ specks of flaws, nor the meticulous workmanship to combine raw materials into a work of practical art, I still want to open the door and explore the outdoors. I want to cross the street and walk in the park, be a part of the park – bare-footed in the grass, looking up at the sky through the over-arching leafy branches. Feel the grass tickling the soles of my feet, the wind brushing against my face, let my hands touch the bark patterns – rough, smooth, bumpy.

The view through the glass is lovely. But sometimes even barriers are deceivingly beautiful or unhelpful. Knowing when to remove the barrier and explore further is the true test.

————

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.

Filed Under: Photography, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Memorial Day Tribute

May 28, 2012 by 3 Comments
Memorial Day Tribute at Courthouse

Memorial Day Tribute at Old Courthouse © 2012 Bo Mackison

 Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong. ~ James Bryce

Memorial Day 2012.

Sherpa and I had a fair amount of driving time scheduled for this holiday weekend. Wisconsin to Iowa to Missouri to Illinois, and then across Illinois from the farthest city on the western border of Illinois, through the heart of the state,  a swing to Milwaukee before finally heading home to Madison – where we collapsed in a heap of tired bones and weary minds.

We accomplished a huge number of things, including several family events that were celebratory. And as is now my habit while traveling and collecting large numbers of miles on the odometer, I kept my big camera in the back seat, snug in its camera bag, and photographed whatever caught my eye with my iPhone.

We took a detour off the interstate, mid-Illinois, after half a day of swerving through holiday traffic, and followed the scenic road along the Illinois River from Dixon (childhood home of Ronald Reagan) to Rockford. As we passed through Dixon, we noticed a display of flags on the old Courthouse lawn. Needing to stretch anyway, we got out and walked around the Courthouse Square.

There was a temporary tribute for Memorial Day entitled “Lest We Forget” and I took a few photos. Each cross or star represented a soldier killed in war from the Dixon area.

Dixon Illinois - Huge Oak on Courthouse Lawn

Dixon Illinois - Huge Oak on Courthouse Lawn © 2012 Bo Mackison

As we walked back to the car, I noticed a truly gigantic oak on the southern side of the Courthouse. I am not experienced enough to give a guess at the age of this tree, but I could not reach my arms around it and touch my fingers together.

I wondered how old this tree was, and how it looked at different periods of history.

Would it have been a young sapling during the Civil War? Probably, as the courthouse was built in the 1850s. Surely it was tall and provided a comforting shade during the hot summers throughout World War I, and has continued to do so these many years.

I saluted this giant oak as I left the square, witness to over a century and a half of history.

————–

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.

Filed Under: Photography, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »