IN THE STUDIO | The Tulip Collection

The Tulip Collection has been forming and I am taken with the tulips. This happens every Spring, but this year more than ever. It’s amazing what happens when you really stop to look at something. Carefully. Study it even.

Maybe I have been looking at them for a lifetime?

Over the past several months our home has been filled with vases of tulips, some from friends, some from the grocery store, some from local flower farmers, and a few from our own garden (first time!) I’ve always loved the colorful strength of tulips. I started studying them and the way they flop over and then straighten up while holding the memory of when they were weaken from lack of water or shock in a vase. This contradiction of being both fragile and strong reminds me of our own contradictions. I tried to recreate this movement in this collection and in the midst, found myself exploring the ethereal; my dreamlike feelings of grasping the intangible for a few seconds only to see them drift off before my eyes. The cyanotype process is an act in this same exploration, mimicking the mind, our dreams and reminding us how fleeting our thoughts can be. I have found more comfort in this space between thoughts and ideas lately; the space where it is okay not to know.