Last week, Pia Jane Bijerk had a gorgeous post on her blog, regarding Nature, and its importance in her life. I too go to Nature for inspiration and solace. The Natural World is a huge inspiration in my art and life. Observing Nature in all her changes, one comes to understand life itself, with its cycles of birth, death and renewal. Many Feng Shui practitioners advise against bring dried flowers, grasses, bones and random stones inside; considering them symbols of decay. I disagree. Unless of course they are added to piles of stuff collecting dust, these objects bring quiet beauty and soulful energy into our homes. And they are a beautiful way of honoring the Earth and the Natural World. As children, my brother and I would spend hours in the veld around our home in the Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg. At that time the area (now Sandton) was largely undeveloped - very horsey, and a kid's paradise. We would dig up chunks of rock quartz; rose and amethyst, tigers eye and fools gold. We'd also find the skeletons of small animals, shedded snake skins and feathers. I thought these were more beautiful than the two Sevres vases on my mother's mantel! Summers spent at Umshlunga Rocks or Cape Town, where we moved when I was thirteen, introduced me to the jewels of the sea! Corals and shells of every description. I still have a few stones and sea shells I collected back then, and count them among my most precious things.
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