Flowers!

Bouquet of Tea Roses by Pierre-Joseph Redoute

You might have guessed this, but I love flowers and the art made about them. I buy boxes of note cards with flowers on the front, and I always keep some to look at when I need cheering up.

Lilacs and Peonies by Suzanne Valadon

And when I need to take a deep breath, and allow a picture

to remind me of nature’s steadfastness.

Bouquet de fleurs by Raoul Dufy

Whimsy makes me smile.

Bouquet of Flowers by Odilon Redon

Flowers remind me of what the poet Gerard Manly Hopkins wrote:

And for all this, nature is never spent,

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things

by Sherri Buck Baldwin

When I’m writing, I need to look up at images that are not made of black and white letters. I look at the photos of my family, and I allow myself to dream while I look at photos of flowers. They make the coldest day sweet.