Flowers are on my mind, after the super-bloom outing last month, after reading The Language of Flowers for book club, after seeing all the golden bees hovering over the tender blue blossoms of our rosemary bushes.
Two hundred million years ago, long before we walked the Earth, it was a world of cold-blooded creatures and dull color — a kind of terrestrial sea of brown and green. There were plants, but their reproduction was a tenuous game of chance — they released their pollen into the wind, into the water, against the staggering improbability that it might reach another member of their species. No algorithm, no swipe — just chance.
But then, in the Cretaceous period, flowers appeared and carpeted the world with astonishing rapidity — because, in some poetic sense, they invented love.
Once there were flowers, there were fruit — that transcendent alchemy of sunlight into sugar. Once there were fruit, plants could enlist the help of animals in a kind of trade: sweetness for a lift to a mate. Animals savored the sugars in fruit, converted them into energy and proteins, and a new world of warm-blooded mammals came alive.
Without flowers, there would be no us.
No poetry.
No science.
No music.
Darwin could not comprehend how flowers could emerge so suddenly and take over so completely. He called it an “abominable mystery.” But out of that mystery a new world was born, governed by greater complexity and interdependence and animal desire, with the bloom as its emblem of seduction.
From The Animated Universe in Verse
A few of my favorite paintings of flowers follows
Salvador DaliVan Gogh Irises
Mimosas by Pierre Bonnard
By Joaquin SorollaBy Emil Nolde
A few of my favorite paintings of flowers
Discover more from Deborah J. Brasket, Author
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Flowers are often the subject of art because of their beauty. I think for the artist beholding the beauty of a flower makes them want to re-create that beauty. It is a challenge and so satisfying when the artist succeeds.
Yes, and they are so intricate too, so full of shifting shades, a real challenge to paint, but like you say, so rewarding when it succeeds. Thank you for sharing that.
I know! I didn’t quite get the “abominable” part, but yes, a mystery. Or maybe not. That that kind of intimate loving, mutually satisfying activity could give rise to so much life seems almost inevitable in some ways.
When interpreting what someone before our own times said, an old dictionary may come in handy. For example, the large 1913 Webster’s gave as its first definition of abominable:
“Worthy of, or causing, abhorrence, as a thing of evil omen; odious in the utmost degree; very hateful; detestable; loathsome; execrable.”
That sense of the word has persisted. However, Webster’s second meaning of abominable, now not so familiar, seems the one Darwin had in mind: “Excessive; large; – used as an intensive.”
#1 – the transparency of Dali’s flowers is stunning. I admit to not knowing of this piece – thanks.
#2 – The Marginalian article is rich with interconnections of science, poetry, art and women! Emily’s pressed flowers notebook is phenominal. Thanks.
#3 – the ‘Joan’ music is something I’ll be diving into. thanks
#4 – Darwin put in his place! Thanks!
#5 – just cuz it’s relevant to your post (feel free to edit the link out if desired!)
The Dali one was new to me until recently, thanks to a new website I’m following https://atsunnyside.blog/, beautiful art, music, poetry. What’s weird is that when I went to find my favorite flower paintings, I had a hard time finding ones I wanted to post here. I bet I searched my Pinterest pages for hours! And yes, The Marginalian site is one that offers so much inspiration each week. And no, I’m happy your shared the link and I hope readers will click on it.
Flowers are often the subject of art because of their beauty. I think for the artist beholding the beauty of a flower makes them want to re-create that beauty. It is a challenge and so satisfying when the artist succeeds.
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Yes, and they are so intricate too, so full of shifting shades, a real challenge to paint, but like you say, so rewarding when it succeeds. Thank you for sharing that.
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I like wildflowers even more now that I hear Darwin considered them an abominable mystery. 🙂 Thanks!
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I know! I didn’t quite get the “abominable” part, but yes, a mystery. Or maybe not. That that kind of intimate loving, mutually satisfying activity could give rise to so much life seems almost inevitable in some ways.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When interpreting what someone before our own times said, an old dictionary may come in handy. For example, the large 1913 Webster’s gave as its first definition of abominable:
“Worthy of, or causing, abhorrence, as a thing of evil omen; odious in the utmost degree; very hateful; detestable; loathsome; execrable.”
That sense of the word has persisted. However, Webster’s second meaning of abominable, now not so familiar, seems the one Darwin had in mind: “Excessive; large; – used as an intensive.”
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Thank you for that Steve. I think you’re right about that last definition.
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#1 – the transparency of Dali’s flowers is stunning. I admit to not knowing of this piece – thanks.
#2 – The Marginalian article is rich with interconnections of science, poetry, art and women! Emily’s pressed flowers notebook is phenominal. Thanks.
#3 – the ‘Joan’ music is something I’ll be diving into. thanks
#4 – Darwin put in his place! Thanks!
#5 – just cuz it’s relevant to your post (feel free to edit the link out if desired!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Dali one was new to me until recently, thanks to a new website I’m following https://atsunnyside.blog/, beautiful art, music, poetry. What’s weird is that when I went to find my favorite flower paintings, I had a hard time finding ones I wanted to post here. I bet I searched my Pinterest pages for hours! And yes, The Marginalian site is one that offers so much inspiration each week. And no, I’m happy your shared the link and I hope readers will click on it.
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Thanks again, flower-sister!
🙂
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🌸🌺🌸🌺
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