July Last Thursday Artwalk on Alberta Street + new corset

So its Friday morning and i am having a hard time keeping my eyes open and my legs and arms feel as if they were made of lead but emotionally i feel elevated and inspired- these are the true sings of a art walk that went well!

Yesterday was Last Thursday Art walk on Alberta St ( a free art vending opportunity that occurs monthly in Portland Oregon.)
Unfortunately this was the first one of these i was able to attend so far this year because previous months it was either raining or i was out of town. So, i decided i was going to go this month and go enforce, thus i took the day off from work so that we could arrive
super early ( around 12:00pm) to stake out a good spot.

This is a photo Danny took after i had finished getting ready by painting my face for the art walk.
It was a super bright day so we were very lucky to have grabbed a spot with ample shade and trees. Still...the brightness made it hard to snap photos of our booth setup during the day but Danny managed to grab some of my body painting exploits:


I painted several lil girls faces + a few young adult faces...but when i asked one person if i could paint their face they turned around and asked " can i paint you!?"
Of course i said yes! they painted a small vine starting from my numb up a lil past my hand that ended in a heart. It was a silly/fun/unexpected treasure.
As the day crept into night danny was able to get a shot of our booth setup:

This photo was taken at a strange angle because what you dont see is the massive wall of moving people walking down the street in front of the booth. The turnout for this was just insane. After 8:00pm it was almost impossible to step out of the booth because the "river of flesh" was roaring!
We were setup facing the street with two tables on parallel sides .
One table with my my art:

the other table with Danny's art:

We used to always set up our artwork together but found that customers got confused as to "who's artwork was who's" which seemed to bother them a bit. Thus, we have found that now this separation seems to streamline customers experience making it less "modge podged" and more effective.
We did also have Danny's stencil records and a few silkscreen shirts on display laying on a sheet on the sidewalk:

We had a lot of folks stop and hover over the records- seems a particular point of interest to many.
We did well in sales this time which is always encouraging. We sold two of my pen and ink on Masonite board illustrations, a few art prints, a couple tie dye, and several face/body paintings.
Also managed to luck out and have a bunch of familiar faces pop up out of the blue so there was lots of hugs and catching ups to do. Met a few new friends as well.
And, as allways...its left me really looking forward to the next art walk on Alberta!
If you are interested in seeing some wonderful documentive photos of the this months artwalk check out the amazing Anni Becker's photographs here- bosting photos of all the crazy splendors of the day such as fire dancers, roaming musicans, dance pits, free hugs, crazy costumes, cute puppies, cops, artwork and artists , jugglers and much much more!!!

In other news, my new corsets arrived in the mail this week!
They were made by Danny's talented lil sis seamstress extraordinaire:

I am in love with it! I had picked out the fabric and sent it over awhile ago so i was delighted to have it in time to wear to the art walk last night.

Tomorrow i am going to the FaerieWorlds summer celebration festival to check it out for the first time. I am mainly going to enjoy myself but partly going to scope out the art vendors to see if perhaps i should hold a booth of my own at the fair for next year. we shall see! Also very excited that i get to do some body painting while i am there: will be painting the Didgeridoo Man in the band Telesma for their musicale prefromance at the festival! Pictures from this outing will most probably be posted via blog update on Monday.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend filled with joy, relaxation and creation.

Peace n Love,
-Chelsea Rose

GET OPEN :: it all starts to make sense....

I've been often asked how does my art connect now to what I was up back in my teens. For a long time, I wasn't really ready to show my past life as a young artist going through some dark places while seeking the light. The art that I did when I was 15, I'm definitely not ready to share yet, but I'm fine with sharing the part of the journey that was in the light. I made these sketches and painting below during my high school years when I was spending all my time with doing art and exploring the life of painters, ancient alchemist, kabbalists and seekers. This one below was the first of its kind, a meditational sygil i made for myself, based on alchemical illustrations I was studying carefully back then. I must say that having artist friends who are also seekers give me a lot of inspiration to keep on expressing the quest.

This is my note/sketch book back when I was 16. This was way before the birth of Lichiban, the little symbol on the bottom right corner of the book was my logo I designed for myself using my three initials A T SZ of my actual name. It connected the symbol of fire and air, the Eye, and the knot of life that had special significance for me back then.

The Tree of Sephiroth (most of the notes there in Hungarian, sorry). Sephiroths are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which God (who is referred to as Ein Sof - The Infinite) reveals him/herself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms.

Cosmic diagrams are a way of mapping the connection between the microcosmos, the human body, and the macrocosmos, our galaxy. When we unlock the maps of galaxies beyond ours, simultaneously we unlock the doors to the hyperdimensions within ourselves and vice versa. "As above, so below" as Thoth through the words of Hermes Trismegistos would say. That is what I believe is the shift that is being heralded with the whole consciousness shift people are talking about these days.

This is the LOVE ∆eon as I've try to translate the experience/vision of it once back then. It reemerged again as LOTUSHEART two years ago. I created it as a collaboration with fellow artist comrade and seeker, Quan Luv, who introduced Lotusheart to Harakiti, his cosmic lover ninja.

While I was going through some self-healing and soul searching, I discovered all these mystical traditions that to my understanding were talking about the same ultimate realization that at the core of our being we are divinity. That divinity is an awareness, or a special kind of vibration that our consciousness harmonizes with, or attunes to. It is the oneness-awareness, a state of non-duality.

You can call it a changing of frequency, as we are made of various combinations of vibration types that corresponds to the degree of our being connected to matter. It is not something humans that are bound to the four elements, i.e. matter, can realize completely, but we can achieve experiences of the state of absolute freedom from limitations, a state of buddhahood or heaven, if we embrace the vibration of that way of awareness, which is a mental state, or form of awareness on a particular frequency. Most traditions say that it is never fully achieved as a permanent state while our lifeseed is in the body. It is a shift that happens to our consciousness, a state of bliss, and it takes a life of spiritual practice to achieve it, if only for periods of time. It takes letting go of notions of the past, memories of pain, and then the ultimate letting go of the idea of the self, the thing that calls itself 'I'. It's the state that many mystical traditions describe as being one with God, or uniting with God, realizing the inner divinity. Sufis, the practitioners of Islamic mysticism describe it through the metaphor of the heart as a mirror, which has to be polished through spiritual practice of cleansing of the self from false notions of identifications with negative energies and orientations (such as greed, hunger for power, envy, hate, etc) in order to reflect the Beloved, God, fully.

The first person who I experienced as someone who you might call an 'enlightened human' was this old Sufi healer in Srinagar, Kashmir. He would sit there for 12 hrs a day and people would come to him for his healing energy all day. Something about him & his presence was different from any other spiritual guides and healers I've encountered before. He is one of those Remarkable Men, Gurdjieff inspired me back then to seek. He changed my life in some unspoken way with very few words. If he were a Buddhist, he would be called a boddhisattva.

I don't have time to introduce these books, but I took a few snapshots of my library of books on spirituality, most of which are books on, or about Sufis, alchemy & magic (though I've been also sharing some of my Tibetan Buddhist references) that I'd recommend to anyone who would want to explore or continue to explore the forgotten part of our makeup. One of most accessible and yet one of the most powerful entry I had to these was Kahlil Gibran's THE PROPHET. I read it when I was 14 and it was the most important inspiration and light bearer I had encountered until then, which changed my life and the way I was seeing the world then in some deep way. In a way, it was through his work that I was first exposed to Sufi teachings, which was a major source of inspiration for Gibran.

"But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls."

"I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires."
Kahlil Gibran

Yes, I am a book junky, and the cosmos made sure that I got the right openings to support it. I used to spend all my money on books, though I stopped buying new ones a few years ago (art costs a LOT of $$) and rather slowly reopening the ones I have (but they still keep coming through, like last time on the ones I found on the street or from friends). Ultimately all books are just there to lend a language to something we have to seek to realize as an experience ourselves, at which point they become disposable. Beyond them a whole infinite ocean, as one of my favorites, Jalaladdin Mevlana Rumi would say. Rumi is a portal of love energy.

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."
— Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

(here are some quotes for inspiration)

Some of these might be too technical to be the first read, but we are always attracted to the things that are ready for at all time, so it's all good. Let me know if you have any recommendations.

thank you for reading. please share.

MY HOMIES RULE TOO :: Doze Green

DOZE GREEN,the revolutionary visionary and unrelenting bad boy of the art world is a messenger of the extradimensional reality bearing witness to the panspermia through uninterrupted lines and color. Doze's mystico-apocalyptic work with its symbolism rooted in esoteric lore, urban, tribal and galactic visual patterns, colors of revelation and forgotten truths have been unfolding a complex prophetic vision of a future at once frightening and enlightening to those who are in tune with the realities of our time. As one of the original members of the infamous Rock Steady Crew (remember them from Style Wars), Doze already made his mark back in the 80s as a graffiti writer and b-boy, and then expanded his playground to various live art shows, eventually founding his way to the gallery world, though never losing his edge. He is off-the-grid these days, planting the seed of a new reality by putting in practice his training in permaculture. A close friend and comrade, Doze continues to inspire to keep the flame alive.

DOZE GREEN

WHERE DO YOU CALL IT HOME? At this moment, in this density frequency, the 3rd octave the planet, EARTH.
WHAT DO YOU DO? Transmit universal energies from the architect and the empiryum into the realm of the so called physical. I serve to be a window into the most ancient, the multidimensional and the possibilities.
TRUE BEAUTY IS…YOU are nature
BEATS…that are multifacited symbiotically layered and connected to the heart chakra.

TRUE SEXY IS…being mercurial, inquisitive, childlike and wise at the same time. adaptability.
MUSIC IS MY…frequency palette. it sets the general mood and motivation in many aspects of creation.painting,dancing, loving etc.
ART DOES NOT…taketh away.
MY NIGHTS ARE…my days.
THESE 3 TURN ME ON…color,sound,taste.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE …is ever changing.
ENOUGH OF …this antiquated system
MY CREATIVITY IS…my direct line to god

TRUE POWER IS…compassion
LIFE CAN BE THE...the instrument by which you find yourself
TO LOVE IS TO…love thyself, and to help others
I'VE GOT FLOW BECAUSE…I just ate prunes
NEW PROJECTS FOR 2010? creating guilds
WHERE CAN WE REACH YOU? en el campo.
SHOUTOUTS? to my comrade, my brother and sensei THE RAMMELLZEE
see you on the next alignment, master. I love you.
And thank you
beautiful one.
paz,
DG

LIMITED EDITION prints (as seen on the left) of "Taino" Serigraph by Doze Green are available at www.yodepot.com

White on Arches Black 250 gsm paper. 11 x 30 inches (28 x 76 cm)
Edition of 100. Signed and numbered.

Details from some of his latest work recently shown at the Jonathan Levine Gallery.

Have big balls

iRECOMMEND: TAGANYAHU SWAO's EXHIBIT closing party

Come join us at the LOTUS Temple of Visions Gallery (which will house my next solo show next month) for the closing of Taganyahu Swao's exhibition this Friday. We have some special features this time, Miralva, Taag's wife will be making food & Taag's animations will be showing. Don't miss it!

Taganyahu Swao (Taagen) was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised between the Caribbean, New York City, San Francisco and Long Island. His father, a Rastafarian painter and illustrator, inspired him at an early age to draw, paint and create Flip-animation using ink and graphite in the pages of soft-cover books. He studied Visual Arts at SUNY Purchase, with a concentration in Print-Making and Woodcuts. There Taagen also explored Stop-Motion Animation and film, making his first films on a Super-8 camera. In 1999 he built an animation stand with 2’ x 4’s and glass and began to paint on glass producing short animation films. He pioneered the use of animating with unorthodox mediums such as lentils, sand and dried seaweed.

Recurrent themes in Swao’s work include the centrality of the Sacred, the cross-cultural interplay between Jamaican Rastafari, Brazil Capoeira, and American Hip Hop, the resilience and vibrancy of the underclass, and the sometimes insoluble clash between technology, city-life and the natural world.

Check out Taag's profile page on the LOTUS gallery site and also make sure to visit his website for more of his work.

FREE DOWNLOAD :: Nikki NTU vs Brainfeeder 'MEDULLA DINNER' + EPK drop // BILAL interview

Wow I was so blown away by my friends, singer/MC/writer Nikki, photographer Texas and director Thony Remy collaborative project for Nikki NTU's Medulla Dinner EPK. Thony Remy films her photo shoot, radio interview and her own personal insight on how the Medulla Dinner project came together musically and visually. Great job, really captures Nikki's spirit!

I love Nikki's new project, which compared to her first EP, A History of Dreams that I illustrated, has more of an introspective mood, it is a beautiful evolution for Nikki. Her Nikki NTU vs. Brainfeeder "Medulla Dinner" is a seven track EP featuring production from Ras G, Samiyam, Teebs, and Flying Lotus, which was released by Melo-X, Nikki's long-time collaborator's label, Galax. You can download Nikki vs. Brainfeeder: Medulla Dinner here: http://galaxrecordings.bandcamp.com

Also check out Nikki NTU"s interview with our artist fam, BILAL- an amazingly open and inspiring convo about Bilal's view on spirituality and its role in his life and music, among others. Bilal has been touring in preparation for his highly-anticipated new album, AIRTIGHT REVENGE scheduled to drop on September 16th...It is a huge record that has been already getting a lot of buzz from taste-makers such as BBC radio host Gilles Peteson and others. Click on the image to check it

ARTISTS TO WATCH : SPECIAL PROBLEMS

After discovering Flying Lotus's new video Mmhhmm, I looked into who created the video. I'm in love, these guys are baaad!

Special Problems is Campbell Hooper and Joel Kefali, who draw on their combined backgrounds in graphic design, fine art, film and music to present unique creative concepts, always inspired by the subject.

Showreel from Special Problems on Vimeo.

AMERICANS LOVE ART BUT DON'T LIKE ARTISTS?

I came upon this rather interesting find about average Americans' attitude toward artists. It states that 96% Americans value art but only 27% of them think that artist contribute "a lot to the good of society." I'm shocked but then I'm also not...it is the reality of my and most of my friends' world.

Consumers love products ---packaged, marketed, ready to put into fancy coffee-table books and art mausoleums (i.e museums)---but don't really value what goes into making those "products." That is part of the reason why I prefer galleries and don't like most of museums...because something about them makes me feel like I'm in a tomb: art works, like archeological artifacts, are celebrated once their maker are long dead. It is culture with a capital 'C' packaged with a seal of approval for those very people who value products over the whole deal-yes, that includes the artists who put their heart & soul into making those "products." Average people are reluctant to pay artists because they think that our work is "frivolous or recreational pursuit", unless of course it's marketing another product (which is why a lot of visual artist become graphic designers), or the work is worthy of investment and trade. Take a minute to visualize a world without the arts...I mean all form of art, beginning from the patterns on your shirt or the poems you were taught in school....

Thankfully, true artist do art because they cannot not do it, because that what makes them feel alive and true to who they are regardless of whether they are valued by the average consumers. It takes a lot of commitment though, because doing art is anything but frivolous...(unless you're a trustfund baby or come from wealth, though even then you still have to face a lot of the same issues) the ups and downs of the life of an artist take a lot of sacrifice and endurance, and most of all faith in oneself. What kept me going even in the most desperate moments is the love for the creative process. What I get in exchange is a freer life, a freedom to express who I am without being determined how to live, dress, behave, eat, love or think by the common denominator, i.e society. I am not a brick in the wall. At the end of the day, I don't give a shit about what average consumers think about artists. I give thanks to my artist fam out there who keep on inspiring me and keeping the flame alive. one love

Here is the article:

"A country that loves art, not artists
In a survey of attitudes toward artists in the U.S. a vast majority of Americans, 96%, said they were greatly inspired by various kinds of art and highly value art in their lives and communities. But the data suggests a strange paradox.

While Americans value art, the end product, they do not value what artists do. Only 27% of respondents believe that artists contribute "a lot" to the good of society. Further interview data from the study reflects a strong sentiment in the cultural community that society does not value art making as legitimate work worthy of compensation. Many perceive the making of art as a frivolous or recreational pursuit.

USA hopes to help close the gap between the love of art and the ambivalence toward artists in society. [...] As author Daniel Pink posits in his book A Whole New Mind—Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future, we have moved beyond the Information Age and into the Conceptual Age. "In short, we've progressed from a society of farmers to a society of knowledge workers. And now to a society of creators and empathizers, of pattern recognizers and meaning makers. . . . We've moved from an economy based on people's backs to an economy built on people's left brains to what is emerging today: an economy and society built more and more on people's right brains. . . . aptitudes so often disdained and dismissed—artistry, empathy, taking the long view, pursuing the transcendent—will increasingly determine who soars and who stumbles. It's a dizzying—but ultimately inspiring—change." [source: www.unitedstatesartists.org

Weekend bliss: Queen Bead, KPG live music, mermaid acrylic painting, playing dress up and morning glory flower

This weekend was eventful and this coming week will be the same way or perhaps doubly so!

First off, one more photo to share from my body painting photo shoot with Queen Bead:


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )

Why is she called Queen Bead? well thats her artist/stage name. She is the head woman for a local reggae band called KPG - Keep Portland Green and her voice coupled with the music made me tingle. I danced all night long:

....needless to say i was super sore the next day and have realized how out of shape i have gotten- need to dance more!! This was a wonderful way to start the weekend.

On Saturday Danny and I watched T.Ruth artspace gallery
We set up a lil sidewalk art sale and worked on various projects inside while greeting the people who came in to look at art. Queen Bead dropped by with her son, i gave her a CD full of the body painting photos of her and we chatted for a couple hours.

I also managed to get some work done on my mermaid painting:
....i am not sure what it is with painting mermaids but they always give me trouble. I am assuming its their trickster/mischievous nature. I have been drawing them since i was 5, so i better get used to painting them since i love mermaids so much!

...i think she finally did manage to cooperate and i got a fair amount of work finished on her. Shes at least got her first layer of paint on...i am going to put in some flowy side fins on her tail and a bunch of bubbles in her hair. Blue/green and yellow orange is a strange color combo for me and i dont think i can say i have it mastered yet so i will have to do a lot more tweaking with it till i am happy. So there is loads more work to do on her- i pray i can find the time to do it in the next few weeks!

In other news...i discovered that my dreads have grown long enough to do side buns...whoohooo!

Can you tell i was quite excited?

....turns out to be a great dread-do for the hot summer months- helps keep the dreads up to cool off the neck!

Also, I came to realize that the FaerieWorlds Festival is this coming weekend! I must go and so i shall. Also will be happily helping the singer Joanne Berman Juskus who heads the band Telesma by giving her and her drummer a lift to the festival- they will be playing there at 5:30pm. Whats extremely exciting, that i just now learned via facebook message a sec ago, is that they are hoping to have me do some body painting on the digeridoo man( Ian Hesford) for their preformance! I cant wait. I guess Ian usually goes onstage painted up very tribal and has even been painted by Alex Grey for a concert! If you have time...check them out, they make some wonderous psychedelic mind blowing music.

So yes... looks like i will be doing all that on Saturday. This realization had me diving into my costume bag to figure out what to wear:

I love playing dress up!

...i think this hat is going to save me from turning into one big sunburn on Saturday.
I am also super excited to hear that the two corsets i commissioned Danny's amazingly talented seamstress sister to make me are on their way in the mail! Thus...i may be strutting about with one of my new ones on for the fair. I had her make one under bust corset with this crazy 60s mushroom fabric i found and another corset- over bust(1700's styled) out of a wonderful purple brocade. I will take photos when they arrive( due Wednesday i think!)

This Thursday is the Art walk on Alberta st so we are also gearing up for that- will be there around 20th and alberta st ( Portland or) with a full booth boasting lots of paintings, art prints, screen prints and tie dye!

That's it for now....more updates and news soon.
Best wishes and much love,
-Chelsea Rose

P.S

i wanted to share my first morning glory bloom of the summer with you:

bye now :)

CAPTURE BROOKLYN: New York Photo Festival Call For Artists

Capture Brooklyn, a new initiative of The New York Photo Festival is a juried exhibition of contemporary photography that seeks to capture the spirit of Brooklyn, and to showcase the vitality of photography happening in the hottest part of New york right now.

Photographers can submit their work for a chance to show at The powerHouse Arena in Dumbo, Brooklyn during the Dumbo Arts Festival 24-26 September 2010. The event attracts 150,000 over the three days, but the images will stay up until 15 October 2010. The goal is to aggregate images that capture Brooklyn as the new place for literature, music, art and photography in New York.

You can submit up to three images for $25 or up to six for $50. Winners will be asked to bring in their work in early September.

COLORIZE: MAYA HAYUK mural in the Bahamas

Just came upon this amazing piece by one of my favorite artist, Maya Hayuk. I'm working on a big mural project initiated by my artist comrades of The Love Movement for a high school in Canarsie, Brooklyn and I saw that Maya is going to be one of the contributing artists. N eedless to say, I'm super psyched.

INSPIRATION: HENRY MILLER - To Paint Is To Love Again

Few people know (myself included until I was referred to this by my good friend, Doze) that Henry Miller, the famous author of Tropic of Cancer was an accomplished and respected painter who completed over 3000 watercolors in his lifetime. Sometimes the whole artist lifestyle with its ups and downs gets one question oneself...I'm sure it's familiar to all the working artists out there. These reflections are truly inspirational

i need a LOVE TESTER!

i'm feeling...FLYING LOTUS MmmHmm feat. Thundercat

FLYING LOTUS :: Mmmhmm feat. Thundercat

This is one of the best music videos I've seen in a long time. Warp has always been at the forefront with visual branding of its artists, and this video just proves it. Warp Films commissioned Special Problems for the project.I'm really inspired by the FlyLo's new album and the artwork for it created by Leigh J McCloske... beautifully surreal & massive undertaking. Thanks for the homie, Fabian Tejada for putting me on!

More Queen Bead body painting photos + mermaid painting in progress + Evolve Mushroom screen print +patio garden pics

Its getting closer to the end of July and the beginning of August. Danny reminded me the other day that my birthday is only a few weeks away- how strange!
Its been a very mild summer thus far and for that i am truly greatfull for its allowed me to be less "melty brained" and work on projects ( some times the heat of summer does me in and i just end up a puddle on the floor.)

First off i wanted to share two more photos i posted from my body painting photo shoot with Queen Bead:


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead)



(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead)

I am looking forward to tonight! Queen Bead will be singing with her reggae band tonight at a club in Washington. It will be my first time seeing her preform and I cant wait!

I started working on a mermaid painting last week and haven't gotten much done on it since then:

...i haven't even finished putting down the first beginnings of color and I'm already not liking where it is going.
I am doing this painting based off of my "love thy self" pen and ink drawing of a mermaid hugging herself:

( pen and ink drawing by Chelsea Rose)
....I initially started out painting her with a light green skin tone but she was melding way too much with the light blue background. I am trying out a natural pinkish skin tone and not liking it at all. However, it may just be too early to tell. What i really need to do is add some more layers of colors and shadow before i make any rash judgments but its been hard to find motivation to work on her unfortunately. However i will have plenty of time to stare her down and do some work on Saturday when Danny and I go and watch T.Ruth art space gallery from 1-6pm. i really do enjoy painting in the back while doing my best at greeting people when they filter in to look at all the art.

In other news Danny made a new screen print from his "Evolve" design. Check it out:

one of a kind screen print composite.
designed and hand screen printed by Danny.

He used two of his recent screen print designs to create it. The background is his faery star screen, the mushroom his most recent silkscreen creation.

I am in love with the new prints and lucked out by getting the first "evolve" print on a shirt- all for myself:

Isn't it lovely? If you want a print of your own feel fee to send in a custom order with t-shirt size/color and paint color preferences!

....Did you notice the hat? well i recently got it in order to help shield myself from the constant bombardments of sunburns that summers tend to inflict on my pale skin. When i came home with it the other day Danny thought it was ridiculously huge and likened it to wearing a sombrero! But i do love it and my good friend Dr. Bob gave me the cool paper blue flower to adorn the hat with. I think the hat will do well for the long bus rides home in the sun, the summer hikes we take and all the hours ill be spending sitting in direct sun at the various art fairs of the season.

I also have a couple patio garden snapshots to share:

Its a true luxury to have a lil outside patio to ourselves amongst the pitfalls of apartment living. Although i dream of working an actual piece of land to plant all sorts of edibles I am making due with what space i do have. i started a potted herb garden from seeds( i think i will do starts next time since seed growing is magical to witness but a slow slow thing.) So far i have the following herbs sprouting happily: cilantro, chile, basil and chamomile. However i am most excited about the morning glory vine that i planted. The morning glory vine have been so quick to grow, some of their leafy vines already climbed the lattice and are beginning to work their way around the top of the patio rail. I was very excited the other morning to find my first two buds ready to burst:

Morning Glory is my favorite sort of flower. I wish i was small enough to live in their enchanting purple trumpet blooms.

On that note i will break off this post.
Its supposed to be a hot weekend so who knows how much i will get done really...hopefully some painting, maybe some hiking but i am sure there will be a lot of time spent in the shade drinking some iced herbal tea, watching the plants on the patio grow.

Much love to all,
-Chelsea Rose