Appalachian Bloom
May 1st 2025
Meditations on Color, Mystery, and Nature’s Healing Touch
Think of how a simple sight-line—or what would ordinarily be called “a view” in the great outdoors—can instantly transform our inner mood. Whether standing before landscapes and mountainsides gleaming with autumn color or becoming immersed in the desert at the height of superbloom, I admit that it has a therapeutic effect.
In this sleek Metal Print presentation, Appalachian Bloom becomes a luminous focal point, radiating natural tranquility into the heart of a modern living space. The reflective surface enhances the vivid magenta blossoms and lush forest greens, bringing the serene depth of the Appalachian wilderness indoors.
Elegantly displayed as a Museum Mounted (acrylic) Print, Appalachian Bloom brings a touch of calm and sophistication to the workplace. Its subtle interplay of color and shadow adds visual interest and a grounding natural presence to this contemporary corporate environment.
Laid Back - Chimpanzee - Medium Bronze Sculpture
Mother Nature wields the greatest painter’s palette. Here, the subject—the delightful appearance of rhododendrons—is perhaps more subtle, but it has a calming effect. Rhododendrons are beloved, and while their cultivated versions bring a zest of spring color to cities and suburbs, I savor the wild varieties which thrive in mountain environs like the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Canada, the Appalachians and the Himalayas on the other side of the globe.
Printed on Wrapped Canvas, Appalachian Bloom softens the bedroom space with the dreamlike quality of an Appalachian woodland in bloom. The texture of the canvas echoes the organic subject, adding warmth and intimacy perfect for a restful retreat.
There are 25 native species of rhododendrons in North America and three of them are evergreen shrubs. What drew me to them here, to an Appalachian hollow in North Carolina, was the sense of mystery that lies in the shadows beneath the bloom—a soothing understory that beckons like the conscious awareness we experience before entering slumber or emerging from a good night’s rest in the morning. Our senses are at ease, the body relaxed; the same kind of abiding sensation you have when gracing the twilight understory of a forest. In this case, it is abloom with a wild bouquet of fragrant rhododendrons. As part of their evolutionary defense, which allows them to repel grazers intent upon eating them, they know that rhododendrons are toxic when ingested by people, pets, wildlife, and livestock.
Wild rhododendrons bloom in a quiet Appalachian hollow, their vibrant magenta blossoms glowing against the shadowed forest understory. A moment of serenity and mystery, captured in the soft light of North Carolina’s ancient woodlands.
As a classic framed print, Appalachian Bloom anchors this spacious hallway with timeless elegance. The frame lends structure and refinement while the image draws viewers into a forested world of color, stillness, and natural beauty.