New York Botanical Gardens

Frida Kahlo at the Tucson Botanical Gardens

March 30, 2017 by Bo Mackison

The exhibit FRIDA KAHLO: Art, Garden, Life was created by the New York Botanical Gardens (NYBG) to highlight Frida Kahlo, renowned Mexican painter, and her deep connection and appreciation of the beauty of the natural world. The exhibit was designed by award-winning scenic designer Scott Pask and curated by Adriana Zavala, Associate Professor of modern and contemporary Latin America art history and Director of Latino Studies at Tufts University.

Tucson Botanical Gardens (the Gardens) was the only garden selected to receive this exhibit by NYBG. This setting showcased the exhibit in a landscape familiar to the original home and garden.

The gardens are alive with the colors and textures representative of the original gardens in Casa Azul (Blue House). Archival photos from the 1940s show their garden as a showplace and gathering place.

In 1941, Frida Kahlo and her husband and noted muralist, Diego Riviera, designed and constructed a small pyramid in the garden of Casa Azul, their home in a suburb of Mexico City. They based their design on Mesoamerican models. Various native cacti are on display in Tucson; pre-Hispanic artifacts were displayed on the original.

Frida was an excellent cook and spent many hours each day shopping for fresh foods at the mercado, then preparing dishes for family and friends. A small replica of her kitchen is located in the children’s garden of TBG.

A unique view of a replica of the studio environment of Frida Kahlo. Shelves are crammed with small sculptures and books on botany, poetry, pre-Hispanic cultures. Stoppered bottles of mineral colors are ready for use.

Contemporary artist Humberto Spindola, artist-in-residence at NYBG during the Frida exhibit, designed and created this sculpture made of paper dresses and bamboo-framed mannequins. The sculptures are made from tissue paper, a modern adaptation of the Aztec-inspired amate paper made from tree bark. The skeleton is molded bamboo fastened with hemp cord and wax.

His sculpture is an interpretation of Kahlo’s painting The Two Fridas, a painting where Kahlo illustrated her dual heritages. One Frida wears a white, European styled dress; the second Frida wears the dress of the traditional Zapotec women. Note the healthy and vibrant heart vs. the unhealthy, weakened heart. Kahlo did this painting in 1939, the year she divorced Diego.

The exhibit is at Tucson Botanical Gardens runs through May 31, 2017. It is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Check current information at https://www.tucsonbotanical.org

Filed Under: Contemplative Creatives Journey, Creativity, Nature Explorations, Photography Tagged With: Casa Azul, FRIDA KAHLO: Art Garden Life, Humberto Spindola, New York Botanical Gardens, The Two Fridas, Tucson Arizona, Tucson Botanical gardens

Walking a Garden Path – Sunday Series

August 26, 2012 by Bo Mackison Leave a Comment

Whenever I am in need of spirit-lifting, my first remedy is to find the nearest flower garden and wander its paths. It’s difficult to hold on to a hurt feeling or stay in a bad mood when I focus, instead, on the beauty of the flowers I see.

Frequently I find my time is best spent simply observing the natural world around me. I notice the artistry in nature and soak in the joyful colors. I walk in the quiet garden, and let the calm and peaceful feelings be my companions.

I rest in the garden for a few minutes, standing quietly, breathing deeply. I breathe in acceptance.

Then I remember a line of a poem written by Mary Oliver that I love — “my work . . . is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.”

The gardens and their flowers offer so many gifts, free for the taking. I need only stand there and be astonished.

I study their bright colors, feel their velvety textures, inhale their perfume, and watch as a breeze sets them dancing. I find the rarest of gifts while walking through the garden — a sense of calm and serenity.

I took these photographs during the New York Botanical Garden’s current exhibit, Monet’s Garden. The exhibit features flowers that were historically grown in Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France. These flowers provided the inspiration for many of his floral paintings.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She travels the United States and captures its beauty in images and words.

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: gardens, iPhonography, Monet's Garden Exhibit, New York Botanical Gardens

At the Garden Shop – Sunday Series

August 5, 2012 by Bo Mackison 16 Comments

Ah, the Variety - Seed Packets at the NYBG

“Whether you tend a garden or not, you are the gardener of your own being, the seed of your destiny.”
– The Findhorn Community

“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”
– Henry David Thoreau

Sun Hats, Garden Hats, Hat Hats at the NYBG

“What dreadful hot weather we have!
It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.”
~ Jane Austen

“Flowers have a mysterious and subtle influence upon the feelings, not unlike some strains of music.
They relax the tenseness of the mind. They dissolve its vigor.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

I have found through years of practice, that people garden in order to make something grow; to interact with nature; to share, to find sanctuary, to heal, to honor the earth, to leave a mark. Through gardening, we feel whole as we make our personal work of art upon the land. ~ Julie Moir Messervy

“The mere thought of walking outdoors on a brilliant golden-blue day causes fire-works of delight to go off in most people’s psyche. It gives one an instant feeling of happiness and that is meditation! We are not only in touch, at that moment, with the physical splendor of nature, but also with the beauty of merging our own spiritual nature with it.” – Karen Zebroff

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These photographs were taken at the Garden Store at the New York Botanical Gardens.

And a note of explanation regarding the last photo – this garden path was made of round ceramic stones, in varying sizes but most about an inch and a half in diameter. The Garden Store sold these small ceramic stones to benefit the Botanical Gardens.

The stones have possibly the most interesting history of any garden stone I have ever heard – each stone was handmade in the early 1900s as a functional object in a clothing factory. What could have been their use?

The stones were put in with newly manufactured fabric and washed. Stone washing! It “gentled” the fabric and made it ready for use.

And yes, I absolutely had to buy a couple of dozen ceramic stones to place in odd spots in my garden – if only for the history they hold. At 4 for a dollar, it was money well spent. I have much enjoyed this tiny addition to my garden! Simple joys!

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

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: ceramic stones, garden hats, garden store, gardening, iPhonography, New York, New York Botanical Gardens, New York City, seed packets, Sunday Series

In a Garden

August 2, 2012 by Bo Mackison 4 Comments

Whoever loves and understands a garden will find contentment within. ~ Chinese Proverb

While exploring the Conservatory at the New York Botanical Gardens, I could hardly watch where I was stepping, so enchanted was I with the intricate design of the golden struts that supported the glass ceiling of the garden.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is working through a backlog of photos taken this summer, while enjoying a bit of an August Break.

Week One : New York City.

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, foliage, glass ceiling, green, greenhouse, iPhonography, National Register of Historic Places, New York, New York Botanical Gardens, New York City, plants, the Bronx, tropical gardens

Sunday Series – A Walk Through Monet’s Garden

July 15, 2012 by Bo Mackison 8 Comments

I cultivate my garden, and my garden cultivates me. ~Robert Brault

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban

How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence. ~Benjamin Disraeli

In the garden I tend to drop my thoughts here and there. To the flowers I whisper the secrets I keep and the hopes I breathe. I know they are there to eavesdrop for the angels. ~Dodinsky

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. On Sundays, Bo shares a series of photographs and quotes she finds meaningful. Sunday is a good days to enjoy a few of the colorful flower photographs I photographed earlier this summer at the New York Botanical Garden at the Monet’s Garden Exhibit.

Filed Under: Art of Healing, Photography, Travel Tagged With: Bo Mackison photographer, botanicals, bright flowers, Bronx, color, flowers, garden exhibit, macro-photography, Monet's Garden, National Register of Historic Places, New York Botanical Gardens, NYBG, Seeded Earth Photography, Sunday Series

Frida Kahlo at the Tucson Botanical Gardens

Walking a Garden Path – Sunday Series

At the Garden Shop – Sunday Series

In a Garden

Sunday Series – A Walk Through Monet’s Garden

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