New! Kindle Edition of A Friendship with Flowers

“Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small it takes time – we haven’t time – and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.”
~ Georgia O’Keeffe, American Artist (1887 – 1986)

In February 2013 my Illustrated flower journal, A Friendship with Flowers, became available in print. The 58 color images made the selling price of it in paperback rather high. I must thank those who purchased it in print and hope that others will do so, especially as the holiday season is coming up. It could be a perfect gift for the flower lovers and gardeners on your giving list.

Now it is more affordable at $5.99

 in its

 Kindle edition

 

On Kindle Fire devices or using the downloadable app for your tablet, smartphone, or computer, the images are in color.

On basic and Paperwhite Kindle devices, the images are as beautifully detailed in black and white.

 

Click here for a preview of it.

 

Reviews:

In A Friendship with Flowers, the gifted American author and artist Diane Denton invites us to share a healing journey she took when the flowers that surrounded her in a very English part of England gave her solace, hope and inspiration.

This beautifully produced book will not be left on a bookshelf for long; and as if the exquisite paintings (you’ll never look at a dandelion in the same way again) are not more than enough in themselves, the author also includes her unique commentary on the natural world as she studies and interacts with it while coming to terms with an unspecified experience in her life.

This combination of artwork and poetic observation, that is both personal and universal, creates a unique alchemy that calms and comforts while still leaving open the essential mystery of the natural world and our place in it. Sometimes, the author seems to suggest, it’s OK for there to be no answers; there may be no pat solutions, but there are insights and realisations, looking back to move forward (This holy rose/is another reminder/of the summer past/and yet/to come…), and new ways of seeing things (I found the snow didn’t drop/from above/but sprung from below/to cover the ground…).

The illustrations and the accompanying poetry, which is controlled, understated and pared back, combine to create a companion book that will reveal a little more each time you dip into it; you will feel (to borrow the author’s words): here’s a friend/I just got to know — /suddenly,/by the roadside,/as I was going/nowhere.

This book also includes a detailed glossary listing all the flowers shown in the beautiful illustrations throughout the book. This glossary includes the everyday and Latin name of each flower plus brief information about its habitat and the time of year that you’ll be able to spot it (easily recognisable in real life from the painstaking accuracy of the artist’s depiction). ~ Deborah Bennison, Bennison Books

 

In A Friendship with Flowers by D M Denton, very talented author, poet and artist, we are taken on a gentle meander through the Oxford countryside where she not only lived for several years but breathed, absorbed and became part of her beautiful surroundings. This gorgeous book contains the author’s own exquisite illustrations of a variety of flowers from hedgerow and garden, all accompanied by mellow poetic verses in her own inimitable style. Here is an example – of The Honeysuckle, the author writes: By the back door/the night comes in as sweet/as honey is to eat, like nectar/to the moths and bees/who suckle all they please;/while I can never get enough/of the scent/that can climb trees.

This is a book to treat yourself to or give to a loved one as a very special gift. It uplifts and delights at the turn of every page and is, without doubt, one to treasure. ~ Christine Moran, Journey into Poetry

 

A playful collection of thoughts about the names of flowers found in England, paired beautifully with the author’s delightful illustrations. My favorite, floxglove: “I am inclined to believe fairies hang up their thimbles when a sunny day is as right for dreams as a day-lit night makes idle hands.” ~ Barbara Rogers, By the Sea

May all your friends grace and heal you with

their beauty, wisdom, and playfulness!

 

©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.

Review of ‘Covenant, A Story of Friendship’ by Mary Clark

5.0 out of 5 stars

A Story in the Moment of Fundamental Change by DM Denton

Covenant. An agreement between parties that is binding like a contract. It’s one of the metaphors used in the Christian and Jewish traditions regarding God’s relationship with and expectation of humankind. In a secular sense it can suggest a collective upholding of certain principals and beliefs—a ritual, even religious pledge and expectation of allegiance to a common, even exalted purpose.

In the bible, Covenant and Testament are used interchangeably. Mary Clark’s Covenant is a testament to how relationships form, flourish, are tested, fall apart, and, if they run deep enough, endure.

As the lives of three youths growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s on Florida’s Gulf Coast intersect, promises are made sub-consciously, at times devoutly. Commonality occurs because of being a certain age in a particular time and place, of sharing amusements, music, uncertainty and wonder, loss and discovery. Loyalty is the maturing of friendship seeded in companionship, threatened by struggle and change, and nurtured by empathy and necessity. Mary Clark’s nostalgic and sensitive offering of their story starts small, out of the inconspicuous, but grows larger and larger in its awareness of the world around them, paralleling very personal events with those that affect their country and the world. These were times I lived through—the civil rights movement, the cold war, JFK’s assassination—and, so, reminded me of how as a child my actual and imaginative life was affected by the decisions and actions of adults. Not always negatively, as one particular scene highlights. When Orchie sees a white man hit a black man who has walked onto a segregated beach and the white man is arrested, she experiences “…the thrill of being in the moment of fundamental change.” I can remember that feeling so well.

The story of Orchie, Red and Bobby is soothing and stark, amusing and disquieting, individualistic and altruistic as it reflects through hours, days, months and years. Mary Clark’s writing is eloquent, even as she ‘speaks’ of poverty and violence, devastation and betrayal. It is word-rich with beautiful sensory descriptions that set the scenes—the woods, the swamps, the beaches, the small town— where the young people spend their time; a blend of raw reality and dreaminess that moves the narrative beyond the simple alliance of children to an agreement that requires them to look into their consciences and hearts.

Read review on Goodreads.

Read review on Amazon.

Covenant is available in Kindle edition.

Visit Mary Clark’s Amazon Page.

Visit Mary Clark’s Blog

Read my review of Tally: An Intuitive Life by Mary Clark, published by All Things That Matter Press. Highly Recommended!

 

Repost: Winter Flowering

Copyright 2012 by DM Denton

By the window

there’s a pot

of Paperwhites

as sweet

to the scent as

they are

to the sight;

one then two,

three,

even four

and five of a kind

with their eyes

so bright,

some looking out

and

some looking in.


Hope this brings a little brightness and sweet flowering to you day.

As well as being a repost from last February, this is also a sampling from my book ‘A Friendship with Flowers’ that will be available in the near future.



©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.

Repost: A Friend Indeed

I have been considering reposting this one for a while, but thought the snowy painting was past its season. Until yesterday – the snow has returned in depth!

A Friend Indeed

O, the wild constancy
of the brave chickadee
simply changing his tune
like the man in the moon
for the tilt of the sky
as the seasons pass by.

Fitting a snug black cap
feathers all in a flap
it would seem for bad news
like everything to lose
with a cat prowling low
and the winds biting so.

But let’s have no real grief
bother this welcome thief
who’s scolding and chuckling
while squirrels are ducking
aerobatics for need
not insatiable greed.

Taking one sweet kernel
to task with a gurgle
pounding out on a limb
for cracking it open
and easy digestion
enjoyed without question.

I hold out my warm hand
in wonder not command
indeed only hoping
my offer he’s scoping
instead berries so bright
seeming more a delight.

Ah, then he’s looking back
at what I do not lack
listening for his voice
and smiling for his choice
so the touch of his trust
makes our friendship a must.

I have a precious little bird book from 1909 that includes the following description of the Black-Capped Chickadee (native to the Eastern US):

‘The Chickadees are one of the most popular birds that we have, owing to their uniform good nature even in the coldest weather, and their confiding disposition.’

What a lovely characterization of this sociable songbird!

A glimpse of my home (log cabin) in the snow

©Artwork, writing and photography unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.

Repost: Summer Moments

This week I am reposting a poem from last summer. One of the reasons is that I have received the edit of my novel from my publisher and am working on the revisions, which hasn’t left time for doing any new writing or painting. (This is also the reason I am behind on your posts. Please forgive my seeming absence over the next few weeks; know that I “am around” although I may not leave comments, or if I do, very brief ones. Your understanding is appreciated.)

The other reason for the repost is that…

Copyright 2012 by DM Denton

…for over two years we have had a stray cat visiting us, at times on a daily basis, at least a few times a week. I put dried food and water out in case he came when I wasn’t home or just didn’t see him, and would give him “the good stuff” (as my mom called wet/canned cat food) whenever I realized he was visiting. We eventually named him “Sunny” because, winter and summer (as long as it wasn’t too hot), he loved to nap in the sun, whether in our driveway or flowerbeds or on the woodpiles. Well, we haven’t seen him for almost two weeks (and neither has my neighbor who also fed him) and are beginning to fear that something has happened to him. Last summer he would sleep on the seat in the arbor we have in our garden, mostly in the evening, shaded by an ever-enlarging trumpet vine, and so I wrote the poem below. I offer it again in tribute to this lovely vagabond who would let me touch his nose only, but who touched our hearts with his patience and struggles and gentle spirit. Hopefully, he will turn up again.

 

Summer Moments

I walk around with my camera
catching the moments
before I simply let them go;
the choice isn’t mine
though I like to think it is
so I might yet be
a little
of the creator.

A brave butterfly in mourning coat
marooned in full flight,
spotted blue and fading yellow,
posing ragged wings,
as if inviting the chance
of my noticing
its moment
quickly passing too.

Cone flowers forming tall umbrellas
under the noon sun,
folding down, pretending homage
to hybrid lilies,
crowded buds swelling into
candy cane colors
to make most
merry in July.

And a straying friend curled beneath
soundless orange trumpets,
his sleepy eyes wondering what
might yet be taken
as I hold him in my view,
and every moment
in regret
that he is not mine.

©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.

Poem: A Friend Indeed

O, the wild constancy
of the brave chickadee
simply changing his tune
like the man in the moon
for the tilt of the sky
as the seasons pass by.

Fitting a snug black cap
feathers all in a flap
it would seem for bad news
like everything to lose
with a cat prowling low
and the winds biting so.

But let’s have no real grief
bother this welcome thief
who’s scolding and chuckling
while squirrels are ducking
aerobatics for need
not insatiable greed.

Taking one sweet kernel
to task with a gurgle
pounding out on a limb
for cracking it open
and easy digestion
enjoyed without question.

I hold out my warm hand
in wonder not command
indeed only hoping
my offer he’s scoping
instead berries so bright
seeming more a delight.

Ah, then he’s looking back
at what I do not lack
listening for his voice
and smiling for his choice
so the touch of his trust
makes our friendship a must.

 
I have a precious little bird book from 1909 that includes the following description of the Black-Capped Chickadee (native to the Eastern US):

‘The Chickadees are one of the most popular birds that we have, owing to their uniform good nature even in the coldest weather, and their confiding disposition.’

What a lovely characterization of this sociable songbird!

©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.

Season’s Greetings and Thank You

I want to take this opportunity to thank all who have made my emergence into blogging such a satisfying and encouraging experience. The best part has been connecting to your talents, reflections and insights that have so often humbled mine. I can’t express enough appreciation for your time and interest in visiting my site and regularly commenting on my posts. Gaining your virtual friendship has made a great difference in my life.

Whatever this time of year means to you, I hope it is blessed with health, joy, peace and love. And I must add: may your imaginations, creativity and sensitive spirits flourish throughout the New Year and long beyond!

A peak o’er the walls of winter
Out of the neglect of time,
Old acquaintance to remember
With sentiments sublime;
For friends of heaven and earth
The constancy of conflict to cease,
Leaning towards a new year’s birth
Holding together the hope of peace.

©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.