Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Words for Wednesday: Texture and Pattern

Donna over at GardenWalk,Garden Talk has another excellent post this week for W4W:
It's all about Texture and Pattern.

Please be sure you see Donna's  post; it is very detailed and informative including a fascinating way to help any gardener decide if their landscaping is as pleasing to the eye as it could be.  There is always something to learn from Donna's excellent posts.
And that leads me to my take on the two words, which, unfortunately, won't be as informative or educational, but here we go:

    I have always been fascinated by Mother Nature's patterns and textures; she surely does do them well.  A few weeks ago, Joel and I were visiting a State Park near Wisconsin Dells and came across a tree which had fallen across a stream.  

I noticed a burl on the fallen trunk  and was amazed by the growth pattern.
I'm not sure of the type of tree this was, but the wood is very beautiful.   Being as this tree is in a State Park, perhaps it will be safe from people wanting to take it home with them.  I don't know how many other people would even notice the burl, but I have an eye for oddities.  (Is that a good thing?)

Fascinating grain pattern; doing some reading on the formation of burls it turns out they are the result of the tree going through some form of stress, be it insect damage, virus or fungus.  Out of the tree's suffering comes a texture and pattern of great beauty.

Walking through our garden the other day, this lichen growing on one of our granite rocks caught my eye:

 The placement on the rock couldn't be any more perfect, it looks like a medallion placed intentionally. Our rock is about 3' tall and the lichen is centered right near the top.  I did another search online and found out this type of lichen might possibly be Xanthoparmelia which is a genus of lichen belonging to the family Parmeliaceae commonly found on the mid-east coast of the United States. (Apparently this is a genus of algae, gosh, you gotta love the Internet, such a font of information.)


.I was fascinated with the texture and the pattern of this Xantho-whatchacallit.  It's really neat.

 

Then there's the ornamental grasses in the garden, from a distance, just a mass of fluffy white soft textures:

A little closer look reveals individual blooms:
And really close up, there are the seeds.  This particular miscanthus doesn't reseed in my garden, but I can see where it could be a problem where the temperatures are more mild. 
I know I haven't even scratched the surface of what could be written about texture and pattern as it relates to gardening or my other favorite hobby, stained glass, where you start with a pattern:
 and use your imagination to try to find the appropriate glass to fit the color scheme:
And hopefully end up with something
vaguely resembling what you are trying to portray.  And though my pictures don't show it very well, some of the glass is textured here, too.  (By the way, the end result is supposed to be grapes on the vine.) 

My thanks to Donna at GardenWalk,GardenTalk for letting me link into this challenging project!

28 comments:

Diana LaMarre said...

Interesting post. I love all those textures. The lichen is way too cool forming a big circle like that.

Rosemary said...

Will check out Donnas blog

Carol said...

Some fascinating texture you have going there :0). Love the burl wood and the lichen. I love walking through the woods and finding such treasures .

Carol said...

By the way your glass is beautiful too!!!

Anonymous said...

The texture on the fallen tree is amazing. The lichen is pretty too. I love the stained glass so pretty. I'm going to look at Donnas page now.
Have a fun week
Sueb

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

What a great post filled with textures, colors and info. I love that burl and the lichen. DH and I area always noticing things like that too. Your grasses are wonderful!! Love your stained glass too and my first thought on seeing it was grapes, so I'd say you did very well in your creation.

Enjoy the rest of your week ~ FlowerLady

Grassroots Horticulture said...

Beautiful photos with texture and pattern. I see the "burl!" Your stained glass is beautiful.
Jeanette

Gatsbys Gardens said...

These photos are just wonderful Karen. I have never seen that type of pattern in a tree.

Eileen

Anonymous said...

Karen, I am so glad for your inquisitive nature and your act of discovery. That is what what garden design is all about at such a deeper level. It is the unwritten part of design that people do not realize and when a garden performs well, it usually has a sense of discovery built right in. Your choice to look closely and to find oddities shows how the landscapes pulled you into them. Really good post, thought and finds.

Jennifer@threedogsinagarden said...

Karen, What a great post! That lichen could not be more perfectly placed on the granite rock and I love the texture of the fallen tree. I have never seen anything like it! The stained glass pattern was a perfect ending.

myomyohi said...

You wouldn't believe how similar we are. I am always spying lichen, moss, birds, bugs, flowers, rocks.... I love all kinds of chance encounters with things most people pay no attention to.

noel said...

aloha,

i enjoyed reading your post, it flowed so well and i'm in awe of that amazing burl and patterns on the wood - really fascinating..also love the title of the whatcacallit lichen - haha :)

Pamela Gordon said...

Beautiful photos! Love the tree burl and how it would have been caused. I knew that was grapes on the vine in your stained glass. Beautiful work! You, and the internet, are a wealth of information today! :) Blessings, Pamela

HolleyGarden said...

I just love burled wood furniture, and so wish I had some. I think it is beautiful and interesting. Even on the tree, it is a work of art. The stained glass is a great example of texture and pattern. My mother did stained glass for a while, so I know how beautifully patterned and textured the glass can be. That's a lovely piece.

Beth said...

Your stained glass is awesome, Karen! You are so talented! I want to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving.
God's blessings to you, Beth

africanaussie said...

Oh I am glad we got to see some of your stained glass. It is beautiful. seeing the swirls on the burl and reading your descriptions made me realize just how often beauty comes out of hardships in life.

Ginny said...

Wonderful photos, Karen - and the stained glass is so beautiful!

Andrea said...

Hi Karen, I would love to bring home that very artistic trunk too, such nature art! And your other photos are amazing as well, but of course most especially the one you made yourself, the stained glass. I don't even have an idea how to do each piece and how you cut and then mount it on the structure! amazing! thanks.

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

Amazing texture on that log - love the lichen shot too.

Stone Art's Blog said...

Love your photos of texture, in particular that timber. Amazing

Heather @ whats blooming this week said...

I'm hovering over the stained glass to see all the textures and patterns in it. Beautiful work, Karen.

But my eye is also searching out that burled wood again. Another piece of beautiful work, this time created by the master, Mother Nature.

Toni - Signature Gardens said...

Wow, amazing photos! I saw a tree this summer that had fallen over a creek and the trunk was all twisted...wondering how it got that way. That burl is just gorgeous...and fascinating. And great close-up of the perfectly placed lichen :-) Love, love, love the miscanthus grasses! Enjoy your glass work as the snow flies this winter.

Indie said...

Great post. I just love the beauty of the burled tree. What a gorgeous outcome.

Christine @ the Gardening Blog said...

Oh my goodness I love your stained glass grapes on the vine - how beautiful! What a wonderful talent you have!

I enjoyed your photographs - I think you captured the W4W Texture & Pattern fabulously with these shots. The grass is beautiful and the burl on the trunk ... wonderful!

Donna@Gardens Eye View said...

Karen you certainly do know patterns as you show them in your beautiful stained glass. I love the Dells and finding that wood and the burl...now we can see why it is so sought after by woodworkers who craft beauty from wood. stunning textures in nature that you captured...

greggo said...

Your garden, the rock work is my cup of tea..greggo

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

Stunning post!!

thanks so much for your recent visit!!

I hope you will stop by and visit my Christmas blog,
www.adebbie-dabblechristmas.blogspot.com

This is where i will be posting until the holiday are over..

Hugs,
Debbie

rosie@travel-i-tales said...

I found Donna's post mosrt enlightening too. Your post is interesting, especially about stained glass. Where can I see more of your hobby?
Rosie