Recently, one of my Garden Rant partners asked me to explain the “big picture” behind my color practice that lives on Instagram (@gardenercook). It’s simple, really. Five years ago, my life blew up. It wasn’t pretty. But I think we all know enough about loss and stress to connect on some level without knowing the details. It’s the human condition. So, maybe not so simple.

And then my dad died.

Around that time, as a way to distract myself from heartache, I began noodling with watercolor trying to match the colors of the plants in my garden. For the record, I am not a watercolor painter. My fascination is color. Which isn’t surprising. Color is seductive. It is one of nature’s most potent tools for capturing the attention of all living creatures. Which is to say, we are wired for color.

My daily practice boils down to making time to see and record what I’m seeing: Pick a plant (or stone or shell) then mix paints to match the hues in the plant (or stone or shell). In the 4 ½+ years since I began, the practice has become essential, a meditative exercise that quiets my mind even on days when my clumsy attempts fall short of depicting what nature does so elegantly.

Read the entire post in the link below

Garden Rant