A Moment of Reverence

I am always in awe of nature – the rhythms, shapes, colours, sounds, movements…
When you see something in nature that resonates with your soul, that really touches you…how does that make you feel? Like standing at the foot of a majestic mountain, or a raging river, or looking into a flower. Connection…
Today’s kohatu is inspired by the kōrari – the beautiful flower that sprouts from our native harakeke (flax).
koru hand painted rocks
Eight of our nine harakeke plants that we’ve been growing over the past three years have produced beautiful kōrari – I’m so amazed at how beautiful they are! I’ve seen many korari in my lifetime but these kōrari are something else! Or is it that I am seeing with new eyes?
I removed some of the kōrari from the flax bush because I wanted the growth to go into the rau (leaves) and a couple of days later, the flowers opened up and out came this wonderful array of colour! Even after they had been removed from the plant! So I sat and observed nature’s awesome-ness, such reverence, it was a moment of grace for me.
And so when I look at this rock from all angles, I’ve rotated it 360 degrees – it is all of nature. And the stalk – the manawa line, the heart line that runs through the centre and holds everything together, supporting the beautiful flowers, it reaches up to the sky and down into the depths of the earth.

The colours are vibrant and strong, they challenge how I use colour in my paintings and inspire me to find the colours for them. Each turn of the stone reveals a new kōrari, a new kōrero that speaks nature – reflected back to me again and again and again.
Many of you will have a favourite rock but this rock for me is the rock of all rocks.
Day 302 and this rock says everything I want to say about life, who I am, the transformations, the journeys… this is all the rocks I’ve painted so far and all the rocks and stories that are to come.
Arohanui,
Jo x

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