Flower Power- Painting Number 7

 Who isn’t captivated by the magnificent beauty of flowers?  I am always mesmerized by the population of blossoms occurring at different latitudes and longitudes.  Why do they flourish in certain places, yet struggle and perish when moved out of their environments? Along with their beauty, flowers often bring significant symbolic meaning to cultural folklore. When selecting a subject for July’s painting I could not resist the nudges I kept receiving from the tropical plumeria blossom.  

 Why the plumeria?  As you are aware, Big Rich and I had the most wonderful holiday in Kauai last May.  In Hani the Honu I shared my painting and story of the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle.  We fell in love with the sea turtles and Big Rich found his spirit sea creature! The Hawaiian Islands hold a treasure trove of tropical flowers.  Kauai is known as the “Garden Isle” for its bountiful flora and fauna.  Plumerias (also known as Frangipani) are amongst the most prolific, growing on shrubs and large trees everywhere. I found my island spirit flower! There is a collection of beautiful colors, of which the most abundant are the delicate white and yellow variety.  You’ll see plumerias worn in the hair of Hawaiian women — on the right if they are single and on the left if they are married.

The blossoms cascade effortlessly to the ground in elegant piles of beauty.  Big Rich would snatch one up and place it in my hair.  At the time, we didn’t know the meaning of wearing the flowers on one side of the head vs the other.  Oftentimes, Rich would place one on either side of my head!  The sweet scent of the plumeria was heightened once the sun had set,  making evening strolls even more romantic.

I know you’re interested in getting to the end of this blog to see the painting, but a bit more information about this charming flower is necessary in gaining a deeper appreciation for its beauty and its significance in folklore.  In making this exercise less arduous for you to read, and less arduous for me to write, I have chosen a simple poetic format to express what I have left to say.  It is called an acrostic poem, in which a lot can be said about a subject in a few words.  This is a format I implemented at all levels when I was teaching school.  You probably remember writing acrostic poems in your school years, too.  It allows students to escape the rigid grammatical parameters of written prose or the tight syllabic structure of poetic rhymes.  In this acrostic poem, the first letter from every line combines to spell out the name of the subject.   Below is my attempt at an acrostic poem to help describe the cultural symbolic virtues associated with plumeria blossoms.   It was fun for me to compose and should be a breeze for you to read, as it leads you into painting number seven of 2019!

P – prevailing faith and spirituality

L- lasting modesty and beauty

U- undeniable grace and charm

M- magnanimous optimism and equanimity

E- eternal love and devotion

R- reassuring new beginnings

I-intoxicating fragrance and scent

A-abiding calm and peace