Battle of Flowers & Cannons I

The imagery and spirit of this work was inspired by the dance Battle of Flowers and Dance one can see performed around Murcia in April. This southeast section of the country is filled with history and architecture dating back to both Roman and Moor occupancy. Cosmos Sulphurous and California Poppies spring forth from old cannons and arch walls.

Family Crest of Buds & Borage

Family crests can be found in sculptural elements adorning walls and grates as one wonders through the numerous small towns and medieval cities of southern Spain. Identifying a family and its history while evoking stories of wars, castles, caliphs and conquests. Buds bring forth new life and Borage speaks of the courage often needed.

Garlic Market

One may enter this Market from any direction, but always through the walls of the city.  Walls for protect and seclusion. Garlic has been cultivated for over 3000 years and used to ward off evil. One will feel most protected within this market.

Gate of the Assassins

Gates of Calligraphic inscriptions inside golden arches, do they give warning or advice? My memories link assassins with intruders dressed in black doing only harm, yet here is a bright red Assassin Bug, molting from its larva. Commonly referred to as a Wheel Bug: Arilus cristatus is most beneficial in the garden. It is a predator of other insects. Be ware: one must treat it with respect as it gives a painful bite!

Holy Gate

The Queen Bee - most sacred and guarded of all. It is through her that life continues. She is valued and esteemed, yet her life is lived as if in captivity. Her every movement is watched and weighed. She is protected even from herself. 

Lover's Lament

"One evening when the setting sun
Was gleaming on the Guadalquivir,
To gold converting, one by one,
The ripples of that mighty river;
Beside me on the bank was seated
A Seville girl with jet-black hair,
And eyes that might the world have cheated,
A wild, bright,wicked, diamond pair!"

First stanza of old Spanish song, from John L. Stoddard's Lectures,
Volumn five, Paris La Belle France Spain, 1898