Summer has set in. The solstice is quite past, mornings are barely even chilly, and the Iceland poppies and the pansies are definitely biting the dust. Yesterday we went to a gorgeous June wedding at Villa Montalvo, where the bride wore turtle dove gray and the myriad flowers on the dozens of tables were all in white. I took some home to make an image from them; watch for "something new" here soon.

It's been a wonderful year, a glorious spring, and the start of summertime has been joyful. But, alas, somehow I read a bit too much of the news in the last few weeks -- some of which was through links Twitter (my tweet name is beingpresent, should you wish to follow me) -- and it has pretty much dragged me below sea level emotionally.

So it makes me think about recent advice I received from Bonnie, my art-teacher-dear-friend recently. The context was in an email exchange in which I stated I really didn't want to do "pretty" art, though that is what most of my audience seems to resonate with. I said I wanted to do something more edgy, something that makes one think instead of just "like it."  Her response was that was what I said when I was 15, and it seems I hadn't changed.

But, she said, the pretty stuff is what draws people. Viewers like to see things that feel good, that are enticing. And, perhaps, she counseled, the pretty pieces will draw them to look, and then they might notice the others and take time with them.

So...I'm going with that. I'm pledging now to go for pulchritude. Intrigue. Romance. Not just to put a bee in the bonnet of anyone in my audience, but because I am beginning to be clear that I myself need to focus on the minute beauty in our world. Those tender little mercies, abundant everywhere.

Note re images: The top image is Iceland poppies; the bottom image are passion flowers. Neither piece has been named yet.