JUST ME :: and a stack of blank pages

:: Living creatively ::

About me

This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realise it is play. The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That’s all there ever is. I’m here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away. When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it. If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. That is very serious!
Showing posts with label calla lily. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calla lily. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Arums - Cloak of Silver-white

W&N watercolours on Daler-Rowney 300gsm

Arums in my garden

Unfurl your cloak of silken white
Reveal your secret wand upraised at length
And not unlike a star you shine serene
To exalt the autumn-tide with silver cups*.
- Unknown

White or common Arum Lily (English); Wit varkoor (Afrikaans). The striking arum lily “flower” is actually many tiny flowers arranged in a complex spiral pattern on the central column (spadix). The tiny flowers are arranged in male and female zones on the spadix. The top 7cm are male flowers and the lower 1.8cm are female. If you look through a hand-lens, you may see the stringy pollen emerging from the male flowers which consist largely of anthers. The female flowers have an ovary with a short stalk above it, which is the style (where the pollen is received).

These plants are native to Southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi. The botanical name is Zantedescia aethiopica and is also known as Calla lilies.


Saturday, July 3, 2010

Arums at night

"What a desolate place would be a world without a flower! It would be a face without a smile, a feast without a welcome. Are not flowers the stars of the earth, and are not our stars the flowers of heaven?"
- Mrs. Clara Lucas Balfour

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

Arum Lilies at night - watercolour on Ashrad Not - 6" x 8.5" - Maree©
In a mostly green, shady and indigenous garden like I have, these Arum Lilies of mine seem to fairly glow against the dark green foliage at night, fireflies sometimes flitting in between, making me feel like I'm in a fairy landscape!