How Roses Enjoy Spring

The roses along the sidewalk organized a public display in honor of spring. The flowers began to bloom. The warm weather arrived too, and the birds started to sing. They all took their place and greeted passers-by. The roses waved at everyone with the gentle breeze, and their aroma filled the air as the day began. Roses are celebrities in the botanical arena. People flock to photograph these lovely flowers. Just like their royal majesty, the Iris, these roses had a job to do, and they did it well. The roses took pride in their part of uplifting the human spirit after a long winter. As predicted, the people passed by, one by one, enjoying the fresh scent and the view. Moms pulled out their smartphones and snapped pictures, and occasionally, a few flowers are cut and carried back home. These are joy-filled days as one rose would say to another, "The roses are brought inside the home, placed in a crystal vase or a mason jar and set upon the table for all to enjoy. In the end, the roses will become potpourri and continue to bring joy for a very long time." The roses continued to wave as people, ran, walked, or strolled along the sidewalk, exchanging pleasantries and enjoying the pageantry.

Iris the Queen of Spring

In the spring, our little queen will make her annual appearance and once again remind us to smile and sing and enjoy a walk in the park. 

Especially this year.  This winter had been particularly hard. So many people cooped up inside, filled with fear and worry.  The streets are quiet, and sadness filled the air: too much internet, too much T.V., and way too much bad news. 

Iris knew she had a challenge.  People were afraid to let their children go to the park, afraid to hold hands, and picnics were out of the question. 

Iris also understood that beauty, nature, a little fresh air, and sunshine was good medicine.  Her purple robe must be far more vivid than years before, and her yellow crown must be a beacon of light for people to see from a distance.  So with dignity and purpose, she arrived, she smiled, the queen bowed, and she filled the world with love. 

Iris said, "This spring will be the beginning of things renewed,  love will triumph, and it will begin with me!" 

Monet Water Lilies, Orangerie Museum

Claude Monet The Water Lilies

The Water Lilies was given to the French State by the painter Claude Monet after Armistice, November 11, 1918, as a symbol for peace.   Orangerie Museum in 1927 installed The Water Lilies a few months after Monet's death and, the set is one of the most significant monumental achievements of early twentieth-century painting. 

Palais Garnier Opera House

Palais Garnier Opera House

Palais Garnier Opera House is a Paris must-see, with all of the opulence of the 1900s and was the inspiration for the famous book, musical, and film Phantom of the Opera. It is one of the most known opera houses in the world. Napoleon III Commissioned Charles Garnier to create the building, in the grand Beaux-Arts style of the time with substantial glass chandeliers, 

marble staircases, and gilt decorations.

Now home to the Paris Ballet, it has a 2,000 seat theatre and is a fantastic Parisian treasure. 

Les Arceaux Fleuris, Giverny

In 1913 Claude Monet painted Flowering Arches, Giverny.  Currently on display at the Phoenix Art Musem.  When you see this painting in person and then have the opportunity to travel to Giverny and view Monet's inspiration, you magnify your appreciation.

You see, Monet planted these arches to hide the nearby rail line near his property in Giverny and created a peaceful place to cut off the distractions of the modern world. Monet dealt with depression, self-doubt, and despair after his wife died in 1911.  And yet, he took action, he created a space for pleasantry, a place for flowers to grow, and he painted.  Perhaps he understood that we create our reality, and if our outlook is not pleasing, we can obstruct that view by planting flowers.  We can plant what we want to grow both in pots and earth and metaphorically as well.

Monet once said, "Gardening was something I learned in my youth when I was unhappy. I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." We owe a lot to Monet for sharing his love of flowers - and his paintings.

Monet's Garden - Synaeda Blue Tulip

In spring, as you walk through the gardens of Giverny, the famous lily ponds of Claude Monet. You see the inspiration of Monet's impressionist paintings. The multitude of flowers beckons you to walk and sit and think. An artist inspired to sit and draw or paint. If you are not an artist, you want to sit and look and listen. Bee's buzzing, insects, chirping, and birds are flying by. It is a peaceful place. It is the pilgrimage of many, and many are here to enjoy the day.

Pictured here, the Synaea Blue Tulip, bloom in mid-late spring. They wave at you as the wind blows, bending the flower to and fro. You are far from the stress of modern-day life. Most people do know that this famous impressionist painter dealt with depression. Most of his life. There is irony, in fact, that his paintings are pleasant. They sold as a cure for stress, in the same way, the essential oils sold today. What will not surprise you is that his garden gave him comfort, and we are comfortable as we walk.

The Swing by Auguste Renoir

 Do you see the people in the background of this picture? A group of men and women enjoying a spring day in France.  I usually focus on the girl on the swing.  I like her pretty dress, and I am sure that I am not the only woman in the world who says to herself, "I wish I could go back in time to life in France in 1876 when people got dressed up and went to garden parties."  A visit to France confirmed this fact.  Did notice picture of the swing? Curators bought a spring and connected it to the bottom to absorb the weight of even the most substantial figure.  Thousands of women, my self included, stepped upon it to imagine what it would be like to have our picture painted by Renoir and perhaps had a photo taken instead.

Renoir is fabulous.  When you look at his paintings, everything is beautiful, everything is delightful, and he ignored the ugly stuff. Renoir once said, "To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes, pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life without creating still more of them." I could not agree more.