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After an especially difficult period in her life, Seattle gardener, author, and artist Lorene Edwards Forkner began a daily, meditative practice.\u00a0 She would pick something from her garden and using watercolors, paint a 3×3 pattern of distinct color squares, trying to capture each of the colors she saw in the subject.<\/p>\n
One of the earliest examples was a balm for grief after the death of her father.\u00a0 The source was a sprig of flowers from Viburnum<\/em> x bodnantense<\/em> \u2018Dawn\u2019.\u00a0 Six of the colors were various shades of pink to capture the subtle shadings of the flowers.\u00a0 Two of the swatches were in greens to represent the leaves, the final in brown for the stem.<\/p>\n A collection of the resulting small paintings from this praxis is found in Forkner\u2019s book, \u201cColor In and Out of the Garden.\u201d\u00a0 The purpose of publishing such a book?\u00a0 \u201cIn sharing the following collection of color studies and observations, my rainbow playground, I hope to open your eyes and deepen your compassion for beauty in the natural world.\u201d<\/p>\n Each painting is overlaid with the garden subject from which they are drawn.\u00a0 On the opposite page is an essay that may expound on the featured plant or color, recall a recipe, or evoke an historical reflection.<\/p>\n Each chapter introduces a spoke of the color wheel with a selection of synonyms or terms that are near matches.\u00a0 For example, different shades of red might be described as scarlet or cerise, while shades of green include sage, olive, and celadon.\u00a0 You can have a lot of fun adding to the list, and I think that would please the author.<\/p>\n Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on August 22, 2023.<\/p>\n Excerpted from the Fall 2023 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After an especially difficult period in her life, Seattle gardener, author, and artist Lorene Edwards Forkner began a daily, meditative practice.\u00a0 She would pick something from her garden and using watercolors, paint a 3×3 pattern of distinct color squares, trying to capture each of the colors she saw in the subject. One of the earliest examples was a balm for grief after the death of her father.\u00a0 The source was a sprig of flowers from Viburnum x bodnantense \u2018Dawn\u2019.\u00a0 Six…<\/p>\n