Santa Fe Watercolor: Red Congo Philodendron

"Drinking the light
She grew more lovely every day
Her beauty filled the space"

Have you ever had the experience of buying a plant, bringing it home, and placing it the perfect location in the perfect pot?  It is exhilarating to me!  When we travelled recently to visit our friends in Santa Fe, New Mexico we wanted to buy a gift for our hosts.  Originally I wanted to buy flowers, but I couldn't find anything that excited me.  We stopped by a plant nursery and found this "Red Congo" philodendron.  I wasn't sure about it in the store.  But we purchased the philodendron and headed back to the house.

When we arrived, we placed it in a beautiful, thick crock that had been empty on the back porch and then headed out to dinner.  Later, I was walking to the kitchen and saw it through the window.  I stopped walking because I was struck by its perfection in that spot.  The bi-colored leaves and character of the plant seemed to call out to me to notice how incredibly lovely they were.  In that moment, I knew I wanted to do a watercolor painting of the whole scene.

"A beautiful plant is like having a friend around the house." — Beth Ditto

When I got home I Photoshopped several photos together to fit the beams and floor into the picture.  I also made the plant a little larger as I wanted to imagine what it would look like once it filled the space.  Below is a time lapse video of me painting the philodendron in her new home.

Music by moodmode-studio from Pixabay 
(Fun fact: I originally had piano music for this video, but the leaves on the plant looked like snake heads to me.  So I searched for snake charmer music and ended up with this awesome song!)

"The 'Red Congo' is more than just a plant; it's a symbol of life's interconnectedness. As you care for it, you're reminded of your place in the larger ecosystem and the importance of nurturing relationships, not just with plants but with people and the environment." —Source: Greg

This quote reminded me that I would like to thank our hosts for many years of lovely visits to Santa Fe. The homemade bagels, delicious meals, and cozy chats in the library are so appreciated.  It feels like home and we feel the love every time we go.

I ordered these notecards with the watercolor scene and they arrived yesterday.  I am going to send them on to our friends.

I have been taking a break from doing any large art projects this year.  But painting this scene (and our entryway) has been so enjoyable to me.  I was thinking about why I like it so much and it is a combination of things.  I like being open to being struck by beauty.  It happens quite often and I am not able to paint everything that strikes me that way.  I have enough inspiration to last me a lifetime.  But every so often, it's like an object or a scene calls out and demands to be painted....like they want to "be seen" in all their splendor.  I am like a "receiver" and when I come across said beauty it feels like a specific call to my heart.  It's like the universe asks, "What does Vanessa love?"  It seems to know how to capture my attention.  And I love "the seeing" and "the finding."  When that connection is made between the object and my attention it feels like that moment when two magnets connect... there is a strong pull and that magic moment when they touch.  Once that happens, I feel like it is my task to attempt to re-create the object or scene...to show the world this marvel.  Making art is a way of being intimate with the world...a way of being close and spending time with beauty.  It is presence, joy and love incarnate.  I feel so fortunate to be able to live a life of listening... and even more lucky to attempt to answer its call.     

"What will the sketcher see?
His eye is accustomed to search into the cause of beauty,
and penetrate the minutest parts of loveliness."
—John Ruskin

Indigo Intuition

 

"Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder." – E.B. White

This blog post is a tale of indigo magic.  Yes, it is a story of synchronicity... but also of being a willing and ready participant.  I think for synchronicity to be realized, one has to be "on the lookout" and have an openness to receiving.  How many times have we missed something that was right under our noses?  We may never know.  But I now have my eyes and ears open.  I am a highly visual person, and I sometimes think of myself as "listening intently with my eyes."  What am I listening for, you ask?  I am listening intently to life... I am fully present and ready for awe and wonder to arise.  And it does.  Here is one such story.

BOOK INSPIRATION
Last December The Mystery School Press published my children’s book, “Little Bird and the Quest for Happiness.”  The book is about a Little Bird who travels far and wide on a grand quest looking for happiness.  She meets many wise beings and finds more than she expected on her journey through indigo fields, mountains and valleys.

Available on Amazon.

My inspiration to write the book came from my obsession with two things: aphorisms and folk art.  The writing was inspired by Jack Kornfield’s “Buddha’s Little Instruction Book.”  This is a book of Buddhist proverbs which I have returned to so often the pages are now falling out.  

And the inspiration for the art came from a book I got at a library sale many years ago called “Chinese Indigo Batik” by Lu Pu.  I have always loved folk art and the book contains page after page of beautiful illustrations of white on blue flowers, birds, plants and repetitive motifs found in traditional Chinese batik.  The images are often imaginative, and you can find fish with butterfly wings and birds turning into flowers.  Over the years, these gorgeous images have inspired Christmas cards, linocut prints, and most recently, my book.

Linocut carving for a Christmas card of a "bird flower pomegranate" 

I also loved Lu Pu's book because navy blue is my favorite color and I have a fascination with traditional craft and handiwork.  In the beginning of the book he outlined the process of making the batiks in great detail.  He described how the leaves of Polygonum tinctorium (Japanese Indigo) are fermented to make the blue dye.  And how beeswax and paraffin wax are applied with special tools to make the design.  Then the waxed cloth is put into a vat of dye and the parts covered with the wax remain white.  The wax is then removed with boiling water to reveal the white and blue designs.

"Indigo is the color of intuition and perception." – Unknown

I am telling you these details about the book because I loved this book on many levels.  It had a major influence on my artwork through the years and my love of the style was the main reason I wrote "Little Bird" in the first place.  

SANTA FE, NM
Fast forward six months and I found myself travelling to visit family friends in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  One of my favorite things to do in Santa Fe is to go shopping.  Pre-pandemic I always liked to go to a store called “Traveler’s Market.”  This was an antique mall of sorts, but instead of antiques from the US, it had antiques from around the world.  The market always had a mystical, otherworldly feel to it and I was always amazed at the diversity of items to be found.  So, needless to say, I was very disappointed to find out that the market had closed since the pandemic.  I asked the friends we were staying with if it had moved, and they didn’t know.  I did a quick internet search to see if I could find any mention of it, and came up empty-handed.  One day when I was in town, I stopped at an information booth to see if they knew.  The woman didn’t know but phoned someone who said that a few of the booths had moved into a smaller location.  I wasn’t sure I would have time to find it and decided to let it go, perhaps for another day.  

"It is always with excitement that I wake up in the morning
wondering what my intuition will toss up to me,
like gifts from the sea. I work with it and rely on it.
It’s my partner." ― Jonas Salk

The next day it kept popping up in my mind. So I hunted down the exact address, and my husband and I found our way to a very non-descript old mall.  When we entered the building, we discovered a large room with about ten booths filled to the brim with antiquities from around the world.  An old man greeted us and we chit-chatted with him for a bit.  He told us that maybe a third of the booths had moved to this location and that there was one more room next door.  I wandered around the first room admiring the Tibetan jewelry, African carvings, and amazing rugs.  To be honest, I was a little disappointed this was all that was left of the Traveler’s Market.  But we continued on to the second room.  As I entered, I could see one booth had stacks of textiles neatly folded against the wall.  They were mostly dark blue.  As I got closer, a white-on-blue motif on one of the folded edges caught my eye.  I picked up the fabric and spread it out on the table.  I couldn’t believe my eyes!  I was greeted with white-on-blue fish and bird motifs… in the EXACT same style that inspired my children’s book.  This is a VERY specific style that only occurs in the southwest provinces of China.  I was blown away.

The woman tending the booths in this room saw me looking at the fabric and came over.  I told her that I had just written a children’s book that was inspired by the exact style printed on this fabric.  She told me that she was going to call the booth owner and have her come over… that she would love to hear my story because her mother was a children’s book author too.  I looked at the price tag and saw it was clearly above what I could pay.  I told her not to call, but it was too late.  She was already dialing.  

Within five minutes a kind-faced woman appeared and introduced herself as Pam.  She told me how she had travelled to China to be a school counselor.  While there she travelled to remote villages and became interested in the textiles of the area.  One day she was invited inside the house where she saw the bed coverings which were decorated with the Chinese batik motifs of birds and fish and butterflies.  The locals showed her how they not only wove the fabrics but also used a wax-resist dying technique with indigo to create the designs.  Pam became enamored with the textiles and became a collector.  In an effort to support this traditional work, she now sells both Miao textiles and silverwork on her website here.  Below are a couple of the photos she shared.

Applying the traditional wax design before dyeing. Photo credit: Pam Najdowski

Guizhou province (where my textile came from) Photo credit: Pam Najdowski

We chatted for some time, and it was fun to meet someone else interested and so knowledgeable in this obscure style.  After a while I thanked her but told her I could not afford to purchase her fabric.  She told me she would sell it to me for half the price marked.  I told her I would think about it. 

"There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen." – Rumi 

As I pondered whether or not to buy the fabric, I couldn’t help but appreciate the strange coincidence.  What are the chances that this folk-printed fabric from the Miao region of China would come into the hands of a woman from Cincinnati, Ohio who had just been inspired to create a children’s book in that style?  When I think about this, I am in awe at how the universe works.  But at the same time, I believe I am an active participant in this magic.  I like to live on the constant lookout for beauty.  I am like a great blue heron standing exquisitely still with my feet in the water.  I am always waiting and watching… poised and ready for a juicy fish to swim by… ready to gobble it up.

And gobble it up I did.  The day before we flew out, I returned to the store and am now the proud owner of an authentic wax-resist indigo-dyed Chinese batik made in the hills of Guizhou province.  That fish sprouted wings and flew back to Ohio with me.  

Fish sprouting wings

This gorgeous textile now resides on my piano and is a reminder to always be on the lookout for the miraculous… a reminder of the magic of my own indigo intuition.