Inspiration and nostalgia

We get to a certain age and we all experience a certain nostalgia – for all sorts of random things that remind us of good times had. Some of those things are places (the Indianapolis Museum of Art), some are sounds (the squeak of basketball shoes on a court), some are edible (hominy – don’t judge). I think it’s good to have so many things to look back upon with fondness. It means I’ve done at least a few things right.
One of the things I remember with fondness is the piano room I refurbished myself when we lived in Knightstown, IN. I taught piano lessons and needed a place where the chaos of my elementary and middle school age kids could be shut out.  I replaced the section of ceiling that collapsed, stripped and replaced wallpaper, replaced the wood trim, refinished the wood floors and installed french doors. My husband was the destructor – tearing out all the old stuff that needed to go, and I installed all the new stuff. When it was done, it was gorgeous. This was also the home where I built an organic herb nursery. I have photos but they’re buried in the storage unit, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. We only lived in that house for 3 years and you’d think I would have cried when we moved, but the community was so hateful, especially to my children, that I was actually relieved.
That was nearly 20 years ago. I had a little bit of wallpaper leftover, and I have carried it with me through 5 moves because I loved it so much. I have spent all that time wondering what I might do with it. I think now that I will use it as the inspiration for a mosaic.

As lovely as it is, I think it needs a bunny, don’t you?
I love the pink cosmos,














the bluebird, but especially, the sage blossoms:

Sage blossoms are really blue, but they almost appear lit from within. They are really magical.
So anyway, today I spread out the sheet of leftover wallpaper and remembered all the scents, sights and sounds of the herb gardens I have had over the last 30 years, and decided to embark on this.
Then I left the studio, stopping at Whole Foods to pick up butter on the way home.
And outside the front door they had precious, little sage plants. So of course I brought one home.

All is right with the world.