Portrait of a Tulip

This beauty comes from the tiny container garden on my balcony. I’m in love with this blossom. Other than liking them no more or no less than other flowers, I never much thought about tulips. Then a friend told me that tulips were her favorite flowers. Her comment caused me to take a closer look to figure out why. Compared to other, flashier, showier flowers, like peonies and dahlias, tulips, unless they’re parrot tulips, seem almost plain. They’re not. They’re graceful and elegant in their simplicity. Even when they bow their heads, they’re lovely.

The closer you get, the more intense the color. That’s how it is with people, too, isn’t it?

These blossoms are almost too beautiful for words. They’re ethereal and will slip away all too soon. That makes them all the more precious. That’s why I had to photograph this beauty and share it on my blog. Soon these pictures will be all that I have left of this flower.

Once you get close to someone you can see into their heart. This is the same flower. The only difference is the lighting and the location. The inside of the petal really is more intense in color than the outside. Many of us hide our intensity from the outside world.

Am I a Georgia O’Keeffe wanna be, except with a camera, instead of a paintbrush? I’ve loved her work for many years now. I love her sensuous, intimate portraits of flowers. I even love her barren landscapes and steer skulls. She shows them to us in a way we’ve never though to look at them before. I wish I could paint like she did. I want to live to a dynamic old age, with a beautiful, lined face like hers. I’d rather not slip away like flowers, but I suppose I will.

Come closer, look into the heart.

Here’s a link to the O’Keeffe Museum https://www.okeeffemuseum.org