It's Iris Day!

I've just learned that today is Iris Day. Therefore, I am including a copy (posted directly above) of Vincent van Gough's painting, Irises, which can always be seen at The Metropolitan Art Museum in NYC.

Wiki states that "Van Gogh started painting irises within a week of entering the asylum, in May 1889, working from nature in the hospital garden... He called painting 'the lightning conductor for my illness,' because he felt that he could keep himself from going insane by continuing to paint."

American Meadows points out that "because of the great elegance of the iris bloom, it has been the symbol of monarchs and royal families throughout history. In fact, one of the earliest known artworks of an iris is a fresco in King Minos' palace on the Greek Island of Crete. The palace dates from 2100 BC."

The aforementioned source also claim that in addition to van Gough, "the iris has probably second place (they claim the first is the rose) as the favored flower in great art... irises appear in paintings by Leonardo daVinci, Durer, Renoir, Cezanne, Gauguin, and Claude Monet."

However, another painter, Georgia O'Keeffe who often used flowers (including irises) as her subject, did not see flowers as a "lightning conductor," rather she supposedly once said, "I hate flowers - I paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move."

In any event, regarding information pertaining to Iris Day itself, a number of sources, including Holiday Insights, proclaim that this occasion is always observed on May 8th. Another web-page suggests that "the celebration of Iris Day might have Japanese roots because this flower has spiritual meaning in Japan. It is a symbol for creativity, great power and good news to come." 

Upon learning this, I am tempted to go to my local bodega (they sell flowers in bunches) and stare at their irises (since I don't have them in my garden), so I can reflect on their symbol of "creativity, great power and good news to come." 

No April Fools Day Prank OR Fake News: Dandelion has been retired!

On this April Fool's Day, I'm sorry to report that the announcement made by Crayola yesterday, regarding their retiring the crayon color known as dandelion; was not a pre-April Fool's Day prank!

And it was not fake news either!

The crayon known as dandelion (pictured above) will no longer be a part of any of their crayon collections. It is my understanding that some type of blue color will be replacing dandelion, which seems problematic to me given Vincent van Gogh's philosophy on the color yellow. He is known to have claimed, "There is no blue without yellow and orange," which is something I wrote about here on Blogger in 2011!

Yellow has been an important color in my urban garden, as evidenced by the members of the fauna community who visit my place; as well as by the flora which has grown here.

"There is no blue without yellow and orange." Insights & Controversy Regarding the Color Yellow PART THREE

And now . . . continued from
 Part One and Part Two of 11-11-11 post:

Therefore, on the authority of my beloved Tropaelum majus, they were nearly inconsolable when they heard the yellow quote, and their sadness resulted in some of the yellow things which grow in my rooftop garden such as my Helichrysum bracteatum AKA Strawflowers and one of my Rose Shrubs, pictured below (respectively in images taken on this past Thursday morning just after all the "yellow-rhetoric" of the things which grow in my garden had occurred), to go on the Internet, searching for other artists who fully appreciated the color yellow, and that is when they found one of Vincent van Gogh's quotes about yellow, which is "How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun."

It is not surprising to me that my Helichrysum bracteatum or my yellow rose expressed their concern (by looking for a LIKE "yellow" quotation) over my Actinida kolomikta, Actimida and Hakanechola Macra feeling slighted over the quotation attributed to Degas regarding yellow, for they are not shy about standing up for themselves — or others — as evidenced in the blog posts that each of them have authored. To refer to my Helichrysum bracteatum's blog entry on TLLG, please click here and to refer to the blog post my yellow rose authored on TLLG, please click here. 

My yellow rose has been quite the little activist lately; remember how miffed she was at New York Botanical Gardens for their "eye-candy reference"? If you have not had a chance to "hear" her point of view on that, click here  to see the blog entry on TLLG where her "friend" the yellow Tropaelum majus (Nasturtium) has been included; and you may also, by clicking here, see what she posted on facebook about the New York Botanical Gardens still using "eye-candy" to describe flowers.