fantasy art and tree chatter of aquariann

Has it really been almost a year and a half since I last blogged here? Times flies, whether you're having fun or not! Don't get me wrong, I have had a lot of fun in my absence. But, just like this beautiful butterfly I met in the Pollinator Preserve in historic Milton, my wings were wounded and it took me awhile to fly again. Or perhaps flutter is a better word. I still hover low enough to occasionally crash into things. In any case, my monthly goal is to upload a new flower photo to my Fine Art America gallery and blog about it here for Flower Friday. Happy New Year! Featured Flower Picks: Dogwood Blossoms • Serruria Plant • Hibiscus Bloom

I have been a busy, busy bee, growing Ogre's Grove and collaborating with other artists and small business owners. Recently I was invited to tour the Mansion Farm Inn in Milton, Delaware. I'll be writing more about that exciting experience at my Photography Field of Flowers blog on BeachPaper.com later this month. For now, I just wanted to assure all of my fellow flower fans that I am still stopping to smell the ... mandevillas! Featured Flower Picks: Mandevilla Macro • Mandevilla Vine • Mandevilla Bouquet

Rarely does it snow in December in Delaware ... but it did last Friday, just in time for the Milton Holly Festival . After the snow stopped, I pranced around in the park taking photographs. Featured Photo Picks: Scabiosa 'Red Velvet' Macro • Waxwings • Hosta Leaves How To Plant Your Own Post for Flower Friday: The only rule to play is that you can only add one link per week! The post doesn't even have to mention flowers, but only ones that do will be eligible for being picked as a feature next week. I will be sharing my flower image on other blog hops, namely Floral Friday Fotos and Wordless Wednesday , and welcome all family-friendly links from fellow bloggers. Crafters can even link up an Etsy listing or other shop product! But if you want to promote a prize, please add it to my Giveaway Chest Linky instead to entice more treasure hunters. Please follow my blog through any of the social media icons in the upper right sidebar to receive ...

Field Reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief? Sheriff McClelland: Yeah, they're dead. They're all messed up. - Night of the Living Dead (1968) When my parents and I found out that the Milton Theatre was playing the original "Night of the Living Dead" movie and zombies got a discount on tickets, we heartily hacked old clothes into zombie costumes. Zombie movie night was thrilling! In addition to watching a black and white movie I hadn't seen before, there were zombies roaming the aisles and startling humans like a haunted house. The historic theater in Delaware recently reanimated after years of being closed, thus providing the perfect atmosphere for a zombie apocalypse. I hope they'll host many more themed movie nights for me to stagger to in the future.

"Oh, summer has clothed the earth In a cloak from the loom of the sun! And a mantle, too, of the skies’ soft blue, And a belt where the rivers run." - In Summer excerpt by Paul Laurence Dunbar I've been walking around Milton as much as possible before it gets too hot! The garden club does a great job taking care of the town's flowers, such as these beautiful yellow lilies that line a walkway along Wagamons Pond.

The Steampunk Tree House has clawed its way to the Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, a mere three miles from my house. Contrary to how it surfaces in my daydreams, this 40' tall sculpture of metal and gears did not spring up from the dirt overnight. The tree was originally cultivated by Sean Orlando and over 60 other artists from the Five Ton Crane (5TC) group back in 2007. It debuted at the Burning Man music festival in 2008, and has been disassembled and put back together several times. It spent a lot of time in costly storage in between appearances, so when Dogfish Head agreed to pay tens of thousands of dollars to ship it from California to Delaware, 5TC sold the structure for only $1. After two weeks of heavy construction, the tree will now get plenty of sunlight and water in its new home. I was lucky enough to attend the "ribbon-cutting" ceremony on Friday, June 25th. It was smashing - and I mean that, literally - they swung a bottle of Dogfish Head Life & Li...