A flower amidst flowers

This is, how I remember you, even years after you have gone (in early spring). A flower amidst flowers, a plant amidst plants.

With your garden dresses sleeping in my drawer (and yes, I even brought them to Lisbon) your love for nature is wide awake in me, more than ever, and I finally can connect so much to the joy of seeing plants sprout and grow and the feeling of touching soil. With every plant I water or I touch I feel I nourish my connection to you and so you are all alive for me, all around.

Thank you, granny.

~

Actually I do have an academic and professional background in Fine Arts and Photography and writing is just one way to express myself. Seeing a lot of visual inspiration here around Substack made me feel like I wanted to share something of that realm, too.

I still have a special fondness for this documentary-like project of mine that is featuring my granny (who sadly has passed away some years ago. I´ve created a performance and another photo project to honour her that I´m going to share another time here). Her name was Maria and so is my second, actual name… So yes, if you ever wondered, I´m using an artist name ; )

She got used to the camera over time, however, and started to collaborate with me in some way by telling me what motives I had missed recently when I wasn´t there, things that would have made a good photo. I found that brilliant and inspiring.

Spending more time with her through my wish to capture some of her essence and life also greatly contributed to our relationship – and I´m very glad about that. I´m very happy about the memories I was granted through more conscious time with her.

There is still always that whispering wish to at some point make this series of photographs (including my other projects connected to my granny) into a book. However, proper books need dedicated time, professional support and money. That´s why so far it´s still that whispering voice and nothing I´ve put into action.

I also know it needs a decision to do something and to carve out the dedicated time, find the professional support and either invest some of the money I have or find enough interested people to fund at least a part of the project and know there are people who will value it…

So, what, for now, I´m doing is: To introduce you to this project and my granny.

As said: My granny loved her garden and spent a lot of her time out there, planting, watering, nurturing plants and flowers, and, once the time came, harvesting and feeding and nurturing us with her salads, carrots, berries (and cakes made from them) etc.

When I was younger I didn´t really understand how beautiful it is to eat food that is grown right in front of you. I also wasn´t really aware how much work and dedication it required and how precious therefore all that food was that came from the garden.

Now, that I´m older I understand. And I´m finding the relationship between my granny and her garden even more wonderful.

Since she has passed away the garden has changed (because, yes, it is a lot of work to maintain what she cared for and tended to) but my parents still have some fruit trees, some salad and vegetable, herbs and berries. Trees, bushes, flowers, of course, too.

I also remember my granny often late in the evening sitting in her living room armchair, glasses on her nose, diligently checking the raspberries for insects, mould etc. before giving them to us or making marmelade or cake with them.

There is a whole lot of small rituals that came with her garden work. I also feel like she rarely sat down to just enjoy the view, mostly she was actively engaged in things connected to the garden; I had the impression that that was what gave her joy, however.

Me, I also like to just sit and watch and enjoy the garden. But I´ve also come to enjoy doing at least a little planting in pots, mostly flowers (some to enjoy watching, some that are edible) and of course there is a bunch of indoor plants I´m tending to.

I used to be a curious observer mainly, but the older I got, the more my relationship with plants and nature has grown. The more I enjoy putting my hands into soil, the more I cherish what comes straight from “in front of the house”. And often I think it was my granny who planted the seeds for this.

She was, by the way, also a wonderful painter of flowers… that used to be her hobby in earlier years. And now, that I`m older and trying to practice drawing more, I also often feel drawn to flowers.

And whenever I come across some of the photographs of my series about her, she and the garden come alive in all their glory.

If you liked this little ode to my granny and her garden: I´ll share my two other art projects dedicated to her on my Substack in the future… So, consider subscribing, following me or just check back from time to time : )

I am Chrischa: Artist, Poet and Embodiment coach. I work at the intersection of Creativity, Embodiment (practices that work with and foster the body-mind-connection) and inner transformation.

Through my classes, workshops and 1:1 coaching, I help women to feel more at home in their body, more connected and alive, to give space to their creativity and to dare to be and express themselves in all their wonderful facets.

https://chrischavenus.de

The website is in German but I´ve offers for English speakers, too.
Just get in touch, I´d love to hear from you!

I´m also creating artist/poetry publications that you can find and purchase here