Claus Dalby is a Danish gardener whose work I follow on instagram. He creates stunning floral displays by grouping together potted plants in large masses. Here is some of his work. You can find more of his work on instagram or on his website here.
Images via Claus Dalby’s instagram
I recently started following artist Michelle Morin on instagram. Her work is lush and detailed featuring tropical plants, landscapes and other textured nature-inspired patterns. Her work is multi-layered and busy but somehow still subdued. I really love it. She began her work as an artist while working as a private gardener in Cape Cod. Inspired by the plants around her she began sketching and painting during work breaks in the garden. Since then she has been painting and creating surface pattern designs for over 16 years. You can purchase her work on etsy, follow her on instagram or check out her website for more information.
Images via Michelle Morin’s instagram
I created a “Shop Local Downtown Cary” line of shirts for men, women, and kids, (plus hoodies and stickers) to show support for all of our local business neighbors and the Dorcas Ministries Food Pantry, also located here in downtown Cary, NC. 100% of the profits from these items will go to the Dorcas Food Pantry which provides free, emergency food assistance. These items are currently available via pre-order meaning I will contact you after your order is placed to let you know when your item has been made and is ready for contact free, curbside pickup.
You can find all of the items here: https://shop.gathergoodsco.com/collections/shop-local-downtown-cary.
Please help me to spread the word and show your local love/pride. 💗
Maymont Gardens is a 100 acre public park in Richmond, Virginia. Here are some photos I took on a trip there in May of 2019.
Photos by Michelle Smith Creative for Gather Goods Co
Heidi Caillier is a Seattle based interior designer whose work is both simple and elegant, laid-back and beautiful, design aesthetics that I often aspire to in my own work. Here are some pictures of some of her work that I find especially lovely.
Cari is one of the studio tenants at Gather. She has an MFA in poetry and teaches comic book classes at NC State as well as in her studio office at Gather through her business Bee Loud Comic Studio. Though she really loves doing this work in person, and has created special accommodations to make sure the experience is super cozy and comfortable for people of all stripes (she has a passion for helping those on the spectrum), she is currently doing remote classes until we can be back to the space.
At Gather, she has created a little library outside her office door where she leaves out graphic novels to lend out to readers. My daughter has benefited from this as well as countless others. I asked her to recommend some comforting choices for people to check out at home. Here is her response:
“Michelle recently asked me to recommend a few graphic novels that we can find comfort in during our current time. I thought this was a great idea, and there are so many amazing books! And, honestly, so many different ways to find comfort.
Books directed at children are in some ways predictable: there won’t be a surprise amount of violence, but they are, also like children themselves, unpredictable in their boundless imagination, sense of wonder, penchant for wild adventure and curiosity in the face of beauty.
These books are balm for uncertainty. They are reminders of community, family, friendship, and that part of your heart that can always grow to hold more love. In this time where we are all becoming more aware of neighbors, strangers, even our friends, our relatives, and their lives, these stories grow even more warm, delightful, and relevant.
Anything and Everything by Katie O’Neill @strangelykatie : Aquicorn Cove, The Tea Dragon Festival Series.
The stories are all inclusive, featuring a wide cast of characters representing and normalizing differences in race, physical abilities, and LGBTQ+ families. I cannot think of another author of gentle adventures for all ages that includes casual depictions of wheelchair use and sign-language. I love these books. I feel seen reading these books. I can imagine myself as a character in these pages, which is a rare comfort itself.
Want some more gentle adventures? Try Hilda, Sea Sirens, Anne of Green Gables, The Prince and the Dressmaker.
Moomin
Moomin has been a phenomenon in the Scandinavian countries for decades, but was only recently translated into English. There are parks dedicated to the characters, and toys, and lines of home goods. There is good reason for all this love. These characters are mischievous, but also cozy, kind and human. They are the embodiment of Hygge (hoo-gah, the mood of being cozy), and perfect imperfection. Reading this collection of comic strips, you’ll laugh and you’ll sigh, but you’ll also find yourself asking big questions of philosophy and life.
Want some more thoughtful laughs from comic strips? Try Pippi Longstocking: The Strongest in the World, Anna and Frogga: Completely Bubu, Calvin and Hobbes.
Friendship is a journey, not an object one owns, and this book reminds me of all the journeys with all the friends I’ve grown alongside over the years. This adventurous book that starts with young friends riding bikes is filled with beautifully illustrated night skies, gorgeous water, fish made of stars, unexpected reflections, and of course, talking bears. The story is at once fanciful and realistic, and the journey unfolds like a daydream – a daydream I find myself revisiting over and over again with time.
Want more fantastical journeys? Try Poppy and the Lost Lagoon, Pilu of the Woods, Amulet. “
I am a compulsive photo documentarian, the extent to which I rarely show on here. If you know me in real life though, then you know that it’s an intrinsic part of who I am, and a big part of how I see and interpret the world around me. I have been taking photographs like this since I was a kid.
I remember finding the photography books in the library across the street from my house and the images were so striking, so moving. I would photocopy these images and tack them to my own wall – documentary style black and white pictures of street scenes and people. In fashion magazines it was the portraiture that I was drawn to.
I would take my film to be developed at the second floor shop down the street and like magic I would wait and see what came of those shots. I learned about different types of film processing. My first job was at a one-hour photo shop. I would see professional photographers and think what a magical and illusive job that must be. I would drive into the countryside and take pictures of fields and tractors and textures. I would stick my lens in the face of everyone I knew.
Funny enough, many of my friends went to school for photography, one even used a picture that I had taken on his camera in his portfolio. I wasn’t sure how this made me feel. Anyway, I never got the technical learning skills. Instead of going to school for photography, I went for graphic and web design because it felt more practical, it felt like something I could get a job in. It is ironic that I work as a photo stylist and do so much photography now considering that but I think it is that same internal flame that never went out and the desire to keep doing it, practicing it, and just an innate need to photograph that took me from here to there. I am still learning and refining everyday. It never gets old.
Everyday I am taking photos, when I see the light just so, or an expression on a person’s face, or an environment that moves me I take a picture and when on the rare occasion that I don’t have a camera on me, I feel regretful that I’ve missed that moment and instinctively bring my hands up to “frame the shot”, a little salute to what could be. This is a long essay to say that maybe I will share more here, and I’ve probably said it before but the sheer quantity is staggering and I have always struggled with the idea of things not having a purpose, for frivolity or marks or observation that is shown to others without clear intent. I also take a lot of personal shots of people and friends and family and those feel private but beautiful. But, I also recognize that by hoarding many of these images it’s not really inspiring anyone else but myself. So I’ll try to share more here for no other purpose than to possibly inspire, to possibly offer up my point of view, to just “put it out there”, because really, why not?
