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Uncomplicate.

in pursuit of a simpler, more sustainable creative life.

Listening to Nature

Listening to Nature

January 11, 2021 Beth Comments 0 Comment

Last summer we started carving paths through the brush and trees to more easily enjoy different areas around our little homestead.

One of these little paths has a stairway over a rocky hill (actually it’s old railroad ballast: just big rocks piled on more rocks filled in with little rocks) and when I finished the stairway in late-summer, I transplanted a little fern that had been growing in the center of the path. It was the hottest driest part of the year so I hauled buckets of water to the little guy daily, but by mid-fall I was sad to see it seemed to have not made the transition and was completely brown and shriveled (you can see its little brown fronds hanging over the stairs in the very center of this photo).

Last month I walked back up and over the little hill for the first time in a while, and was greeted by a gazillion little baby ferns sprouting on the other side of the hump where there had only been rocks, dirt and a little moss before.

In the middle of what we usually think of as the greyest and deadest part of the year, fresh little green stuff is busy filling in every possible crack in the woods.

All these tiny woodland babies just celebrating the return of the wettest season made me smile, and reminded me Nature has it all under control.

I’ve been growing and gardening my whole life, most of that time spent in a more urban environment. I built little areas and planted stuff and pulled out the weeds. I mean, that’s what you do, right? I spent almost half a century obsessively studying gardening books and pouring through gardening magazines for fun. I felt like I kind of knew a lot about growing stuff.

Living out here where I’ve spent most of my days from spring through fall working outdoors, I realize how much more I’ve learned about growing in these 3 short years than all those other years put together. The plants and the land tell me what’s up: what they need, what they like, where they should be. It’s taken me a while to realize this was happening, to actually listen to what Nature is trying to teach me. It makes me even more excited to get back outside and work together with this place to create more useful yet sustainable spaces for producing food and simply enjoying.

This concept isn’t exclusive to living in the country, this is just where I finally slowed down enough to actually listen and learn. Nature shows us what’s up in a crack in the sidewalk if we take the time to look and listen. Uncomplicating the way we interact with Nature is key, and I’m still learning how to do that.


Gardening, Uncategorized
ferns, garden paths, native gardening, native plants, nature

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bethlogansart

bethlogansart
Hmmm. After a few evenings of sorta mindless picky Hmmm. After a few evenings of sorta mindless picky little detaily shading I’m not sure I totally love this one but it’s what happened when I started drawing for the first prompt in the #heart2heart2023 creative challenge: “Big Hearted”. Or, just a really big heart. Or, just way too much obsessy little detail. I’m not sure. What do you think? 
If I’m gonna be honest this started out way different: super loose and texturey and not detailed at all, a muted limited palette, and just wasn’t….well, good. It went through a few dramatic design and palette shifts before I started laying down the layers and layers of ditsy little stuff. I have been noticing my drawings usually mirror the state of my brain on any given day and as you can see here, it’s crazy full right now 🤣 so with a long deep breath I’ll click “post” and wish you all an awesome Friday and get on with the chores I already procrastinated this morning 😉 thanks to our awesome hosts for this one: @lorisiebert.studio, Mary Ann Johnson, @vanessakikijohanning, and @kellimaykrenz 😊
The river says to tell you Happy Heart-Month 💕 The river says to tell you Happy Heart-Month 💕 yeah ok a few of these might just be lumpy triangles but I found them all on my walk yesterday and I’m gonna call them hearts. 
❤️
Also do you see Oogie Boogie in the 5th pic?
👻
#iseehearts #heartshapedrocks #heartshaped #riverrocks #heartsinthings #heartmonth #loveisintheair #oogieboogie #nightmarebeforechristmas #myneighborhood #gooutside #pnwonderland #rivertreasures #uncomplicate #slowliving #simplelife
Meanwhile, inside where it’s warm… . . . . . # Meanwhile, inside where it’s warm…
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#midgethekitty #wintersunlight #loghomelife #pocketofmyhome #shesnotsupposedtobeonthetable #theyweresupposedtobebarncats
Frosty mornings ❄️ #quietlife #mybackyard #j Frosty mornings
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#quietlife 
#mybackyard 
#justbreathe 
#januarymorning 
#pnwonderland 
#frostymorning 
#itscoldoutside 
#becausejanuary 
#subtlewintercolors 
#butsunshinetho 
#simplelife 
#uncomplicate 
#justgooutside
Oh and speaking of #spoonflower, guess what? I jus Oh and speaking of #spoonflower, guess what? I just received another batch of design proofs and made a bunch more patterns available for sale in my shop. And everything’s on sale 20% off right now (ends tonight). Link to my Spoonflower shop in my profile. Yay 😊
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#spoonflowerdesigner #spoonflowersale #spoonflowerfabric #spoonflowerwallpaper #homedecor #whatwillyousew #patternlove #surfacepatterndesigner #bethlogansart #fabricsale #itsnothoardingifitsfabric #sewallthethings #sewcute #fabricdesigner
Happy Friday friends! Who else is a fan of rich wo Happy Friday friends! Who else is a fan of rich woody earth tones? Well I usually prefer mine with pops of zonk-bright colors, since I live in a very brown-on-brown house 🪵😉 extra color is refreshing…but these tones are just so warm and soothing aren’t they? 
🤎
This week’s Spoonflower design challenge is “Earth Tone Throw Pillows” with a strict limited Pantone palette (swipe to see swatches). 
🤎
If you feel like checking it out and voting for designs (like this one!) you can follow the link in my profile (scroll down to the bottom of my list of links). There are so many cool pillow designs on the voting page…cool geometrics and botanicals and all sorts of gorgeous patterns. I kind of want to see the longest brown leather couch in the world with hundreds of different pillow designs all mixed up on it 😍 wouldn’t that be cool?
🤎
Have an awesome weekend, everybody!
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#spoonflowerchallenge #spoonflowerpillows #spoonflowerdesignchallenge #spoonflowerdesigner #surfacepatterndesign #patternlove #warmearthtones #earthtones #brown #botanicalpillow #woodlandgarden #warmbrowns #warmneutrals #funbotanicalprint #whimsicalbotanical #bethlogansart
Remember my teeny tiny fungi from a few weeks ago? Remember my teeny tiny fungi from a few weeks ago? Each one is about the size of a pea. 🍄 Well they’ve bloomed (?) to full bird’s nest form. 🪺How cool is that? ✨And I just happened to have some teeny tiny bird drawings on seashell fragments to go with them now 😊✨
Isn’t Nature cool?
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#lookaroundyou #justgooutside #tinyfungi #birdsnestfungi #minidrawings #tinybirds #seashells #natureisawesome #everythingisanadventure #evenmybackporch #myreallife #theresmagiceverywhere #justlookaround #fungiisawesome
Oh and hey, this. 🌙🐇 #lunarnewyear #yearof Oh and hey, this. 
🌙🐇
#lunarnewyear 
#yearoftherabbit 
#withafrogtoo
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#happyillustration 
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#bethlogansart
Holy crap what am amazing morning! How many diffe Holy crap what am amazing morning!  How many different birds can you make out in the audio? It’s crazy. Like they were all telling each other “get out here and look at the sunrise!” 💕☀️💕
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