Apple Orchard, 8” x 8”, Encaustic and seeds
A Seed’s a Star, A Star’s a Seed, 6” x 6” Encaustic and seeds
Solanum Integrifolium Diptych” 25” x 28, Embossed plant, watercolor and pencil
Lupine, 15” x 22” Embossed plant, watercolor and pencil
My work has focused more recently on the marvel of seeds. Not only have I found the seeds of my garden plants inspiration for my artwork, but the seeds of change in my community this year and other parts of the world turned my thoughts to the nature of seeds.
Does growth happen in a spiral from a point or does it shoot up in a relatively straight-ish line? Is a seed the beginning of hope? Do we circle around and around until one day a seed is formed in thought like a star being born, or a moment has combusted, or a drop of blood has been spilt? Does a seed contain a call to action?
“The ancestral grandmothers of the Dahomey region of West Africa braided seeds of okra, molokhia, Levant cotton, sesame, black-eyes peas, rice, Amara kale, gourd, sorrel, basil, tamarind, and kola into their hair before being forced to board transatlantic slave ships. The seed was their most precious legacy, and they believed against odds in a future of tilling and reaping the earth. They believed that their black descendants would exist, receive and honor the gift of the seed.”
Leah Pennniman
Leah Pennniman
Seeds communicate throughout the universe. They contain the composition, the message and the essential maps of all that is to come.
Linda Maylish,
