11. In Lieu of Sunshine - Virtual Escapism is the Only Cure
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First off - apologies for the 24 hour delay. We had a covid scare yesterday that drained my capability of editing. But after some testing early this morning, all is in the clear, thankfully.
It is difficult to reign in some sunshine peppiness these days, are you feeling the same? I feel no amount of vitamin d supplementation will have the same effect as a day spent floating beneath the sun (veneered in zinc).
A rough announcement of a full lockdown, plus possible impending travel restrictions right before the holidays, has myself and everyone in my vicinity wearing crazy ‘I swear I am fine’ eyes or complete submissive acceptance of mental breakdowns left and right.
Amsterdam is layered with a constant gray and park walks are so dull in comparison to the vibrancy of other seasons…
During these offsetting times, I find myself reaching for my favourite type of escapism - coffee table books. Often books too large to pop in your backpack for metro reading and displayed sometimes solely to impress dinner party guests, most coffee table books tend to be rarely cracked open.
We have a few, one of which I have read many times, due to my previously mentioned love of Georgia O’Keeffe, Visions of Hawaiʻi. Birthed out of an exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden some years ago (that I curse myself for not attending, but we were already living abroad), it documents Georgia’s travels to Hawaii after being hired on artistic commission by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. Her paintings depict the beautiful raw landscapes of the islands and the flowering tropicals aplenty. I reach for this book again and again when I daydream of the day we can return to traveling to warmer far-flung destinations.
Another lesser read, but by no means inferior, coffee table book in my library is Women Garden Designers by Kristina Taylor. It documents women who worked in artistic landscape design from the 1900’s to present day (it was released in 2015). It covers many different women but one of my favourites is Niki de Saint Phalle. I have yet to visit her Tarot Garden, which has been on my list for a while. But whenever I am in Paris and my gas tank of empathic social aptitude is decently full, I head towards the Stravinsky Fountain (in an area of town overpopulated with happy hour tourists and a nightmare of a shopping street).
Inspired by the works of composer Igor Stravinsky, Niki de Saint Phalle created sixteen fountainous sculptures in collaboration with Jean Tinguely. Outrageously colourful, surrealist and Dr. Seuss page-to-cartoon reality. Her work is pure whimsy, pagan, husa, a delightful escape from The Giver-like colour scheme of northern european winters. Taylor’s book offers a peek into the psychedelic world of Niki and captures the magic behind her gardens in just a sprinkling of photographs.
I braved the crowds this past summer to snap a couple pictures of the fountain, which was anticlimactic, it seemed shut off for some refurbishing. The sculptures remained entertainingly magnificent though:
Citrus Bloom Update
The white flowers are continuing to grow in size, I hope I will be in town when they come to fruition. I am dosing them daily with LED sunlight and admiring gasps. Even Elvis is impressed by citrus rosso’s robustness and has decided to stop peeing in their soil, it seems for good.
Weekly Florist Drop
In an attempt to bring some sunlight into our home, I have been drawn to the tropical florals this past week. Not the most sustainable option but definitely the most mood enhancing. I have a soft spot for proteas, after leaning into the flamingo estate for floral inspiration a few years ago. Luckily the florists at our weekly market know this and more often than not, there are a handful of protea options even in the bleakest moments of winter seasonal depression. These may or may not open but given I lost my garden shears and am not keen on doing last minute online shopping during the holiday season (shops are closed for lockdown), I don’t have high hopes. I may attempt to snip off the ends with a sharp knife to give them the refresher needed to blossom, but having tried that in the past, I know it does not always end well. They are beautiful either way.
Nico knows I tend to fall hard with lack of sun and surprised me with a tropical inspired bouquet a few days ago for our anniversary. The lilies are starting to wake up while the daisies droop so it was a good vacillating moment to seize the dawn/dusk orange splendour.
Some things nourishing me this week:
cups of Milky Oolong and Halawet el Jibn (heavily doused in orange blossom water)
My furbabies as they try to steal the above breakfast, Lulu almost succeeded. Elvis bailed after he discovered there was no meat/fish/butter/french cheese/seaweed on the table - the only things he deigns to eat.
christmas cookies - sorry all were eaten before photographic evidence could be made.
not the news
Monday’s unconventional brunch of leftovers: mole and biryani for Nico, french onion soup for myself. The sun came out for a moment and it was glorious.
I hope all is well with you and your loved ones. Wishing everyone safety, warmth and plantiful splendour for this yuletide week. Next week’s newsletter may be delayed a bit due to holiday plans, thank you for understanding! I am well on my way editing podcasts, interviews featuring artists Evgenia Emets and Camila Restrepo Giraldo. Thank you for understanding delays in releasing these episodes! If you missed the first episode interviewing artist Paula Pedrosa, you can listen here.
<3 Happy Holidays!
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