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| Roma Tomato |
As a gardener, is their one plant you feel an affinity for; one for which you find yourself drawn to more than to other plants? For me it is the tomato. Yes, I love basil too, but mostly when it has just formed its first leaves; after that early phase it just falls into the same category as every other vegetable. Wonderful but ordinary. But when it comes to tomatoes I love them all the way through their growth cycle: for their smell, for their need of pruning, for staking, for protecting from the cold, and of course, for their fruit. Beefsteak, Roma, Tiny Tim and Scotia - all wonderful varieties of tomato plants.
As an artist I thank Georgia O'Keefe for showing me how the plants she loved, flowers, can assault the senses in a glorious way. Her flower paintings saturate your eyes with colour and abstraction. You can dive right into the center of the flowers in her work. Emily Carr shows me how to dive into the forest in her work. Her treatment of light as it filters through the leaves is like no other. Van Gogh is the master of the sky in his work; his wild and swirling skies leave me breathless. Monet's large painting Water Lilies, the one that hangs in MOMA in New York city, definitely is one of my favourite paintings, for its size and its impressive treatment of the soft, indefinite shapes reflected in water. Do you notice that the artists that I mention here, are all known for their work about nature?
As a yoga practitioner, is there one pose where you feel most at home, most in touch with your nature? It's your favourite asana, right now, the one you love to do. Pay attention to which pose is your favourite. At one point in my life my favourite pose was a supported headstand hanging on the wall. I needed the benefit of the inversion, but I didn't have the strength needed to do such a pose unassisted in the center of the room. I was that tired.
Namaste my friends.
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