FLORA

Though my wife's job keeps her rather busy, she has planted an array of flora that surrounds the house, especially noticeable through our windows at ground level. Tulips, iris, daffodils and an number of other flowers and bushes are in constant bloom and perpetually visited by the local wildlife; rabbits, fox, turkey, deer and every imaginable type of bird from kestrel to bluebird and cardinal to hummingbird, it makes for a comforting environment and a great place to work. As I look around the yard, I am constantly reminded of the trips to Japan, the gardens and temple grounds and the various potteries visited, many with splendid kakehana hung in alcoves and on pillars with vibrant and solitary flowers completing the vases. Illustrated is a simple lantern style tsubo by Iwabuchi Shigeya. Elegant and simpatico with the single branch, the multi-slipped and salt fired pot shows a rich blush and gohonde style areas about the pot a style and technique the potter excelled at. The quiet, even elegant combination of flower and clay makes for a dramatic and contemplative display that only nature at its richest can best.

"Nature does not complete things. She is chaotic. man must finish and he does so by making a garden and building a wall."   Robert Frost