They are Back Big Time!

After years of scant flowers, my gaillardia are back. I don't know what I like about this garish member of the daisy family--well yes I do: Its garishness. The gaudy red and bright gold go great in my cloisonné bud vases on the mantel right under the oriental screen: They pick up the screen's brilliant red orange floral motif and throw it across the room in your face as you enter. The little flower gives a big happy decorative bang and a hearty hello.

But strip the color away and draw it with nothing more than graphite pencil, as I did yesterday, and its structure is elegant. Beautiful. Delicate. I painted it seven years ago when the crop was incredible and I fell in love;and now, I'll have to work in another. Who knows when they'll be back? I just can't resist the play of gold, red, fuchsia, burgundy and pale yellow amongst blue/gray weed like leaves. It's definitely the official flower of the state of Linda.



Post Script: The state of Linda is great today. Physical Therapy was terrific. I was so glad I went. What could be terrible about being massaged and then massaged again with an ultrasound wand? I felt improvement right off the table. --And the exercises are the ones I was doing on my own before I quit last December. I had no problem picking them up and got pointers on good form. BUT the therapist did say my knees, (both of them), are a mess--nothing is where it ought to be and they move nothing like other people's do. My mazel.