American Pennyroyal was a plant we found along the hiking path the final day of class, which was the day we were taking the practicum final. Almost every other plant that day was review, and we hurriedly wrote our test answers while hiking through the forest, with our instructor putting down flags along the way alongside the plants he wanted us to be able to i.d. by their scientific names. A walking final exam~ since the Pennyroyal was new to us, and the course leader encouraged us to crush some in our hand and deeply inhale its fragrance, this moment was a welcome little island of sensual connection with a plant on a day that over five hours we were meant to i.d. 110 of them (!!!).
Making these small paintings between every class meeting helped me develop an additional relationship with these plants through the activity of my imagination and my hands, instead of just trying to memorize them with my 'mental brain.' It may be a different approach to learning that you'd like to try, that is playful and at the same time, very effective. ((If only I'd been able to do it for all 250 plants!))
The next New Moon Newsletter will be ca. the 11th of September ~ before *that* a Full Moon Blog may or may not appear on time ;o) , on my website , ca. 28 August. I am preparing to move house on the first of September, though-so no promises! My new apartment is a beautiful old downtown historic building which has a room that will be my painting studio so I'm very much looking forward to showing that to you, as soon as I can take a breath ~ In the meantime, may art and Nature aid you in finding deep peace beneath the wave zone of modern life, especially if you are going through a changeful season <3
Sending you love,
Laura
