I am always thrilled when the trees and flowers start blooming. Yesterday my two daughters in the bay area picked me up from the airport and took me to breakfast at one of their favorite diners. It was great just the three of us chatting and getting caught up on things without any outside interference ( husbands and kids). The neighborhood where they live reminds me of where I lived when I was in high school in southern California. 
Sidewalks, curbs and three or four different house types all facing the local park that is directly across the street from then. Believe it or not it brings me a sense of peace to be in a neighborhood like this. A manicured park, manicured yards with not much variety of plant material because it was all planted to make sure that it doesn’t require alot of maintenance. We didn’t have time for yard work because we spent a lot of time going to the beach.
The trees are blooming as are some of the flowers this time of the year. Every thing is in order including the sidewalks without any cracks. It is kind of a paradox to me because my yard at home is the opposite. It is pure chaos the way I planted my flowers with wild abandon adding colors, smells and shapes that I am attracted too. Using this approach I have no idea what it is going to look like when it comes up the following year. There are no sidewalks or curbs and my driveway is gravel that will need to be graveled again this year. Why is this important? Well it is all part of your artistic journey. We have our comfort zone side and our no boundaries side. The trick is to learn how to balance it. When I am working on a art project my first design idea usually starts with a picture or maybe a fabric pattern or sometimes something someone mentions in a conversation.
It is a definite idea such as maybe a tree in bloom, or how the river flows around a fallen tree or my sister reminding me of one of our adventures when we were younger. I then collect the items I need to create that idea.
To me that is the comfort zone side of my art. This familiar process is the beginning of a my new art creation. But what makes me sing with joy is when I go beyond those things and make them into something very unusual with my own color choices, texture and then the finished edges. The first part of my creation is like the manicured lawns and the second part is like the chaos in my garden so to speak. There is always a point in my art projects that I have no idea where this is going and what the finished work will look like and I know I have reached that point when my husband comments “What is this suppose to be?” or ” I don’t get this one.” But just like my garden my art piece begins to grow into a beautiful art quilt just like the flowers growing to maturity and then making their own beautiful outdoor picture. 
I hope you enjoy these pictures just outside my kids house and I also included some pictures of a fantastic lemon tree that is growing in the back yar here.
This reminds me of growing up in southern California were we were surrounded with orange groves and just about any fruit tree you could imagine. It certainly brings back a lot of great memories of hanging out in my grandfathers orange groves and with a special uncle who grew, avocados, figs, pomegranates, lemons, oranges, plums and ect. He started me on my gardening journey when I was very young…thanks Uncle George…..
