The other morning I went into my small garden to harvest some tomatoes and cut down the last of the lavender. My lavender plants are really happy where I planted them several years ago and grow pretty wild and abundant. When I was cutting them down, I thought, how beautiful, I must take a picture. I went inside to grab a big matboard so that I could have a clean background and took several photos.

And this is why my yard and garden chores always seem to me three times as long as they should. But how does one ignore the beauty in the natural world around us? I cannot. I always either end up having a photoshoot or turning my cuttings into ephemeral nature doodles. Should I be more efficient? Probably. But actually since I make art from what I notice, then it’s time well spent.

Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

― Mary Oliver

Later in the week, I turned one of the photos into this piece that I called “The Last Harvest.”