Less is more

This week the sun burned off the morning clouds, but not until 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  It isn't especially sunny, cold, warm or wet.  Spring weather can be kind of dull around here, but it sure beats living in Tornado Alley.

Seattle isn't an "up-and-at-em" city on the weekends and people get going late, especially on cloudy days. So when we go on an outing or have errands, we leave early and are back at home relaxing about the time most people have finished brunch and the afternoon traffic starts to heat up. You wouldn't believe how much John can get done between 9 and 10 am on Saturday, and you probably wouldn't want to be along for the ride!

About once a year we drive across town to the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park, and walk through the beautiful Conservatory while we're there.  Each time I pass through Capitol Hill I hardly recognize it. What was once a little accessible neighborhood is now so congested and built-up, with no end in sight. In three decades, you see a lot of changes in a city.

But the Asian Art Museum stays pretty much the same: uncrowded, dim, quiet galleries filled with subtle old treasures.  There's nothing flashy about it, although yesterday the Ikebana International Association had an exhibit going on downstairs.  

Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arranging.  Like so many other things in Japanese culture, it is simple and complex at the same time.  A craft, and a philosophy.

Some of the creations were elaborate...

And others simply elegant.

By getting down to the essentials with natural materials, less is more.  There are many different schools of Ikebana, but all the arrangements are designed to bring together elements of heaven, earth and man.

I love the asymmetry and sense of motion captured here with a few perfect peonies.

Last but not least, seasonal plant art of a different kind at the Conservatory. Spring blooming cactus and a perfect spray of white orchids.  And with that pretty sight it was time to head back home.