Redbud seedpods and authentic marks
To remember to be authentic with what’s possible and already there within us...
I didn’t make the connection until this year, the seasonal cycle of the Eastern redbud tree. It started with seeing the seedpods in autumn. Then I saw its flower in spring. How could I not have ever noticed before they were from the same tree?
On my street there’s a small redbud tree that I get overexcited about in autumn. It sprouts coffee-brown seedpods later in the season as the leaves fall away. It’s a showy tempting extravagant display of abundance, all hanging at arms length.
The seedpods chime in the breeze, whisper to me to take them, and so I do. I’ve been known to take a handful, then more of a handful, then two handfuls. We, the seedpods and me, are all excited, sensing some mischief.
Recently I pulled out the little cardboard box I keep them in, seeing also a faded yellow leaf I must have picked up with the seedpods along the way. This, too, was part of the same tree, and it’s heart shaped!
Sometimes, as I’ve seen the dried seedpods and leaves in my collection lose their vibrancy and fade over time, I’ve been inspired to paint textures on them. It’s not to cover up or deny fading or decay, that’s going to happen anyway regardless of what I do! But to bring out what’s already there, in a sense.
I wrote about this idea in a post last summer Accentuating what’s already there. “It’s not to just cover up the old and faded, but in fact, is to highlight what’s possible and already there – a brighter mood, the zest for life, a vibrant spirit.”
And so I began to paint the redbud seedpods. First, all in copper acrylic paint. It was too much, or not enough, I couldn’t tell. Then with regular-ish solid white dots, and it was too much, like bad make up, I could tell. Looser dots looked splotchy. Horizontal dots looked like bricks. Diagonal dots looked like heavy rain.
None of the marks were quite right. They weren’t me and they weren’t the redbud seedpods either.
I was reminded by what I had written in the earlier post: “to highlight what’s possible and already there.” To remember the kinds of marks that I make, the kinds of rhythmic expressive mark making that happens freely from my hand, without much thought, or even trying.
To see how it felt so right on the seedpods, too, as if accentuating my marks and expressing something mutual. Our vibrant spirit.
To remember to be authentic with what’s possible and already there within us...
✻
LouLou
“Redbud seedpods and authentic marks” was originally published as an exclusive post to my Patreon supporters in May 2022. Now it's public and available to you, too!
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