Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature … Without our fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves.  Flowers, more fleeting, more ethereal, and more delicate than the plants our of which they emerged, would become like messengers from another realm, like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless.

— Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

Lately I’ve been following creative inspiration down several different pathways, seeking beauty and light, and following whispers to see where they lead. One idea I am very interested in is Eckhart Tolle’s idea of flowers as messengers.

Most of us love them.  Few will deny their beauty.  But do we hear what they are here to tell us?

As I paint these flowers, study them, be with them, I am drawn in, entranced. These blooms teach me with the magnificence of their other-worldly beauty.

In the midst of this winter’s grey, I share with you some warmth, in this close-up of nature’s artistry. This is Golden.