{"id":49,"date":"2008-03-20T08:07:45","date_gmt":"2008-03-20T13:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/?p=49"},"modified":"2015-06-26T13:04:28","modified_gmt":"2015-06-26T17:04:28","slug":"welcoming-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/2008\/03\/welcoming-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"First Day of Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re welcoming the official first day of spring today! After a long, cold winter, I’m ready. And with that I thought I’d introduce a new contributing writer, Lorre Lei Jackson, who I can proudly say is my mother. Her bio is in the sidebar. She’s writing here from New Orleans, where the look of spring is a few weeks ahead of us in Alexandria, VA:<\/p>\n

I woke up this morning, went out to get the paper and thought, “What would I want to see if this was my last day on earth or my last sighted day?” Here is my answer to myself.<\/em><\/p>\n

Art…What is it? How do you describe something that is so subjective? Something that can be found in the simplest pleasures that we so often take for granted.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here in the south we may not have four seasons, but while our northern neighbors are still wrapped in winter weather, we’re enjoying a spring with an artist’s pallet of glorious colors: apple green of willow and sweet gum leaves, orchids and fuchsias of red buds and Japanese magnolias, a goldenrod field of bright yellow, peach and red of swamp maples all accented with the hot pink, red, purple and white of azaleas under a cloudless, azure blue sky. It is truly a sight to invigorate and uplift. You can’t help but feel good gazing upon nature’s canvas! You just want to stop and quietly inhale it before it disappears into summer.<\/em><\/p>\n

With this entry I’m also posting an original poem by our family friend, Ellen Walker, who resides in Hot Springs, Arkansas:<\/p>\n

MARCH, 2008<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span> Under loamy blankets<\/span>
\n<\/span> earth warms her fertile womb,<\/span>
\n<\/span> anticipating birth<\/span>
\n<\/span> of spring\u2019s ambitious bloom.<\/span>
\n<\/span> Sprouting bulbs send lifelines<\/span>
\n<\/span> of roots into the clay,<\/span>
\n<\/span> veined arms stretch upward<\/span>
\n<\/span> seeking light of day.<\/span>
\n<\/span> Soon tender, slender stems<\/span>
\n<\/span> appear without a sound,<\/span>
\n<\/span> toppled anthills mark<\/span>
\n<\/span> their rising from the ground.<\/span>
\n<\/span> Watching now with empathy<\/span>
\n<\/span> this laboring of earth,<\/span>
\n<\/span> my heart recalls the joy-masked<\/span>
\n<\/span> pain of giving birth.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span> Ellen H. Walker<\/span>
\n<\/span> Hot Springs<\/span><\/p>\n

I would have liked to post the Keukenhof Holland video that Ellen sent me because it is spectacular with the flowers in full bloom, but since I’m not sure how to do it, I’m posting what is more accurate at this time in March and what I saw two years ago — no vivid colors or flowers blooming — except for a wonderful indoor, birdhouse display and crocuses in abandon in the Hague.<\/p>\n

\"Birdhouses<\/a>\"Crocuses<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re welcoming the official first day of spring today! After a long, cold winter, I’m ready. And with that I thought I’d introduce a new contributing writer, Lorre Lei Jackson, who I can proudly say is my mother. Her bio is in the sidebar. She’s writing here from New Orleans, where the look of spring is a few weeks ahead of us in Alexandria, VA: I woke up this morning, went out to get the paper and thought, “What would I want to see if this was my last day on earth or my last sighted day?” Here is my answer to myself. Art…What is it? How do you describe something that is so subjective? Something that can be found in the simplest pleasures that we so often take for granted. Here in the south we may not have four seasons, but while our northern neighbors are still wrapped in winter weather, we’re enjoying a spring with an artist’s pallet of glorious colors: apple green of willow and sweet gum leaves, orchids and fuchsias of red buds and Japanese magnolias, a goldenrod field of bright yellow, peach and red of swamp maples all accented with the hot pink, red, purple and white of azaleas under a cloudless, azure blue sky. It is truly a sight to invigorate and uplift. You can’t help but feel good gazing upon nature’s canvas! You just want to stop and quietly inhale it before it disappears into summer. With this entry I’m also posting an original poem by our family friend, Ellen Walker, who resides in Hot Springs, Arkansas: MARCH, 2008 Under loamy blankets earth warms her fertile womb, anticipating birth of spring\u2019s ambitious bloom. Sprouting bulbs send lifelines of roots into the clay, veined arms stretch upward seeking light of day. Soon tender, slender stems appear without a sound, toppled anthills mark their rising from the ground. Watching now with empathy this laboring of earth, my heart recalls the joy-masked pain of giving birth. Ellen H. Walker Hot Springs I would have liked to post the Keukenhof Holland video that Ellen sent me because it is spectacular with the flowers in full bloom, but since I’m not sure how to do it, I’m posting what is more accurate at this time in March and what I saw two years ago — no vivid colors or flowers blooming — except for a wonderful indoor, birdhouse display and crocuses in abandon in the Hague.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,88,64,85],"tags":[2619,87,2663,86,2685,2676,2684,2618],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","category-literature","category-nature","category-poetry","tag-birdhouse","tag-holland","tag-inspiration","tag-keukenhof","tag-literature","tag-nature","tag-poetry","tag-spring"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst Day 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It would be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inspiration"","block_context":{"text":"Inspiration","link":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/category\/inspiration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":670,"url":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/2009\/03\/model-snowflakes-and-hints-of-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":49,"position":2},"title":"Model Snowflakes and Hints of Spring","author":"casart","date":"March 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week we had a snow dumping, mild in comparison to other areas of the country but the biggest 9\" - 12\" inches we've seen in many winters. Had it been sledable it would have been very fun. However, I was working. Coincidentally, a story ran in the Post about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Everyday"","block_context":{"text":"Everyday","link":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/category\/everyday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"aMathematically models snowflake. 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It's the first thing one sees as they enter Old Town, Alexandria from the west gateway, along King Street. I see this park almost daily and whenever I'm in my car, which is where I happened to be coming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Architecture"","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/category\/architecture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":647,"url":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/2009\/02\/the-creative-genius\/","url_meta":{"origin":49,"position":5},"title":"The Creative Genius","author":"casart","date":"February 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I have read, Eat, Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert and I thought it was entertaining and descriptive about her reflective journey, which in many ways might parallel the creative process of artists finding their way toward production. But since I have long been fascinated by the creative process, I think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Creative Process"","block_context":{"text":"Creative Process","link":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/category\/creative-process\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashley-spencer.com\/ArtIsEverywhere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}