so here I reveal my latest artwork and its entitled 'Miss Pohutukawa walks her red carpet'
As I have mentioned in previous blog postings my inspiration for creating artworks is firmly rooted in my observation of nature and the seasons and without exception the joyous explosion of red blooms on the usually evergreen Pohutukawa trees around Christmas time that never cease to capture my imagination. This native tree of New Zealand is usually found around the coastal areas of the islands. Here in Eastbourne ( by the sea ) they flourish in abundance and seem to take on the role of natures Christmas tree lit with dozens of red fairy lights. During the day under a soaringly high blue sky one can stand under the tree and marvel at the magic it exudes. The Bees cluster and crackle like electricity in search of nectar. Cicadas thrum and click their castanets and the native birds join in with the celebrations with rousing renditions of their favourite songs. Of course the Lothario of native birds Mr Tui is right there. Prancing and carousing with his usual sweet gurgling and I just can't help but believe that Mr Tui is involved in some magic that might just bring Miss Pohutukawa alive even if it is for just one night.......So.......Here I go....
This year the young Miss Pohutukawa was proud of her red blooms. They glistened in the summer sun and shone like the finest Rubies. After many years of nurturing and unfurling of new branches she had grown in stature and took her place along the avenue of other family members.' I stand so tall and sturdy now I feel like dancing' she thought and with that she shook with delight in the gentle breeze. Every day the bees came and tickled her has they sipped on her nectar and the cicadas kept up with their cascade of strumming on her bark and leaves. The wind blew soft and gentle whispers, cooling her down. What she loved the most was the sudden appearance of Mr Tui. Swooping in from above he sent shivers down her trunk as he perched and danced a long her branch. "Hey Miss Pohutukawa" he sang "I love you most of all, I will be true to you, just come and dance with me..I will take you up amongst the stars" Mr Tui crooned with delight and fluffed out his dark emerald wings as if to point up towards the sky....' We just need the wind to ignite the magic and with the full moon high in the heavens we can waltz all night and you can wear your finest robe. It is your time to shine!' At this stage Mr Tui was almost gurgling in a crescendo of excitement that his white tuft of feathers on his throat bobbed up and down. Miss Pohutukawa swayed..totally entranced with the promises of Mr Tui. How she longed to break her limbs away from the boundaries of her bark. The desire to wear her finest gown and waltz all night amongst the stars was almost too much to bear. " Yes!" she cried and swayed " I will be there for you when the wind ignites the magic and the full moon shines high in the heavens, I really will" and with that Mr Tui swooped from bough to bough shaking her leaves and blooms...."till then my love" and he dove into an almost perfect arc across the blue sky and disappeared into the day.
Not long after the New Year on a particularly sweltering day Miss Pohutukawa, stared out onto the aqua sea below, she sighed long and hard and then shook her branches, a few blooms scattered onto the grassy patch on the beach below"Oh No!...Not my blooms! falling already" She cried to herself as she watched the red petals tumble and disperse onto the summer beach breeze. " I haven't been able to dance in my finest gown yet across the night sky and if Mr Tui doesn't hurry with the igniting of magic...I will have no blooms left to decorate my dress!!" and with that thought she felt a prickle of moisture seep from her bark and trickle down her trunk. For the next few days Mr Tui did not come to see her and that made her feel so very sad and lonely, so lonely more blooms fell like tears from her branches.
On the third day the dawn arose tinged with a violet light that turned to almost an indigo so dark and the sky filled with brooding clouds. Miss Pohutukawa felt the first drops of rain splash on her leaves and blooms it felt refreshing after so many weeks with no rain. Gradually the rain joined the cacophony of nature with its own constant tempo and Miss Pohutukawa simply let the rain bathe her with its glorious abundant life giving tonic. The day passed and the evening arrived with a breeze that at first caressed Miss Pohutukawa with the air perfumed wet and warm. Suddenly a gasp and a whipping wind encircled her making her leaves and blooms shiver with an excitement that she could not explain. And all at once like an entrance a magician would make on stage Mr Tui appeared right up close to her the heart of her trunk...." My Darling"... He crooned... "I am here and I am going to ignite the magic so that you can waltz with me across the night sky wearing your finest gown. Miss Pohutukawa felt so giddy with happiness she could feel the wind push and tug at her branches to the point she felt her bark crackle and a pulse of utter euphoric joy she thought she might explode. The wind was now thrashing and growling like an untamed tiger. The rain was now pelting hard and in the arc of the sky, suddenly an explosion of piercing light with a dazzling crack filled the whole of the heavens...." The magic is now ignited!!!" screamed Mr Tui over the wrath of the weather..." It is your time now to join me and dance and dance until we are dizzy"..With no hesitation Miss Pohutukawa felt her inner core slip and slide, her limbs fell free from her bark as she pushed through its rough skin. Her hair deep copper and glistening honey unfurled into thick tendrils and flowed out waving in the wind. Mr Tui fluttered and flew around her slim naked body...around and around he flew with plucked foliage and blooms adorning her skin with devotion to detail and it wasn't long before there Miss Pohutukawa stood swathed in the freshest of greens and reddest of blooms, the most startlingly divine dress. Next he gathered the remaining leaves and blooms and wove them into a tiara fit for a princess. "Almost there" he sang and he slipped his beak beneath his wings producing a pair of purple gloves to protect her fragile skin so newly exposed, a pair of tiny perfect red satin dancing shoes and a fan that held the twinkling stars and the southern cross.
"Come my love" he beckoned and spread his inky iridescent wings to the night sky that now spun around in the perfect carousel of planets and stars " We must Dance" and with that Mr Tui swung Miss Pohutukawa who was now breathless with excitement into his arms and they twirled and whirled and soared off into the night sky. The storm did not abate all night long. The more the wind raced and the rain howled the more intense their dancing became. Miss Pohutukawa was at one with the spirit of the universe.This was a perfect wild affair with Mr Tui. The tiger in the wind started to abate to a gentle purr and the carousal of planet and stars slowly came to a halt. The full moon did not gleam so brightly although pink stars seemed to flit and fly like butterflies on wing. " My Darling" whispered Mr Tui "Sadly it is time to end our wild dancing affair, it is not long before the breaking of dawn and all the magic shall cease to be"So Miss Pohutukawa held on tightly to Mr Tui as he swirled and twirled their way right back down to the grass beside the avenue of family Pohutukawa trees she knew so well. Feeling slightly dizzy Miss Pohutukawa steadied herself and rearranged her finest robe so all her blooms held their place, she tilted her tiara back into place and spun her fan in a pretty spread. Before her between the avenue of Pohutukawas was a fabulous crimson carpet of petals. The family of Pohutukawa trees swayed and bowed and she heard them all whisper encouragement "This crimson carpet is for you dear girl, we sprinkled and rolled it out in the night with the help of the rain and the wind. It is your chance to walk your red carpet. Shine and be proud. Walk your red carpet" So, escorted by Mr Tui she did. Holding her head high she placed one red slipper in front at a time and waving her starry night fan she regally sauntered down the through the avenue of Pohutukawa trees waving to her family in thanks and appreciation. In turn the family clapped their leaves, so proud they were, because from this very moment in time Miss Pohutukawa had flowered into a grown up tree and had walked her red carpet. Mr Tui bowed before her. "Dearest love our wild affair is now over and you must return into your inner tree before it is too late and you wither and perish into a pile of broken branches and leaves beside your family. The dawn is nigh!"He seemed most urgent and she sensed the palest of pink light on the horizon starting to appear. With a flurry she picked up her gown of blooms and hurried towards her awaiting inner home. Spinning around she felt her blooms disperse and fall at her feet. She suddenly felt as light as the wind, ethereal and naked. She felt her skin as slippery sap and touching the bark skin of her home she felt herself melt like honey into her inner core. Miss Pohutukawa stretched with in her bark, trunk and branches filling up all the little places she had left last night. She felt good, very Good. She was a grown-up tree now. She knew all there was to be one with the universal spirit and she will hold in her heart a very special place for Mr Tui, after all if he had not ignited the magic and danced all night in a wild affair she would never been able to walk her red carpet! All at once she felt the hopping and prancing of Mr Tui on her branch. She gave a sigh of pleasure remembering all that had been. " Thank you Mr Tui for everything, I feel complete now, I feel all grown up and happy with my life" She tried to tickle him with her leaves, but he hopped just out of reach. "I must leave you now, dear" he whispered in a gentle gurgle "My deed is done and you are now a beautiful majestic tree to be revered by all. I will return next summer when you bloom again!" and with a passionate resonating gurgle he dipped into a low bow and back flipped off her branch and was gone.
The following morning a human girl child and mother were strolling down to the beach through the avenue of Pohutukawa trees. The air was moist and the passing storm had scattered leaves and crimson petals of the Pohutukawa trees. " Look Mummy, It's like a carpet" chirped the child. "Yes" agreed her mother,"like a carpet". It was then they both spied a tiny pair of red slippers, tiny lilac gloves so diaphanous you could see through them and a very pretty fan that seem to twinkle with stars. "Somebody must have left them by mistake" the human mother decided. " Oh can I have them" cried the little girl. "They would fit my Lou Lou doll"."No" the human mother replied "Who ever left them will be sure to come back and be so relieved they are still there". So with that decision they trailed off down through the avenue of Pohutukawa trees towards the beach.
Miss Pohutukawa stared down to where her little items of accessories lay abandoned in her hurry she had forgotten them. Still they were of no use to her now. That little girl should have taken them...nevermind she thought, some human will eventually take them and she shook her leaves with an air of self agreement then watched her blooms drift down below her trunk roots.
Staring out to sea Miss Pohutukawa felt a sense of peace, all was calm and the bees and cicadas had ceased to make their music. Most of her blooms had scattered away on the breeze, but she did not mind. She could feel the urge to rest awhile before the summer ended and so recalling her wild and wonderful night affair with Mr Tui she folded up within herself and drifted off into a deep sleep smiling with up turned branches arching in to the sky.
The End
Oh my goodness! I am apologizing now for what was so supposed to be a very short couple of paragraphs that decided to grow and grow and it is almost complete rubbish writing! But what fun...I had no idea where it was going to go...I guess that is part of a creative persons journey...just letting a thought and idea blossom. I think I know though that, as the saying goes ...It is better to stick with your day job!!!!!!...Promise next blog posting won't be so ridiculously ridiculous!
Ridiculously yours Annie X
