365 project – Page 2 – donna bogosto kearns

Ribbons and Yarns and Pizza Pie, Oh My!

July 5, 2015 by donna bogosto kearns

I had so much fun visiting the Osborne Elementary gARTen. Osborne’s principal, Barbara Mellet and her associate, Erin Dierker, were so enthusiastic about this project it made me want to pick up a shovel and dig.

Osborne’s gARTen is a collaborative working garden that provides food for an annual pizza party, smoothie day, and enough greens to share with a local food bank. Parents are heavily involved while the children are learning how food actually gets to the market. By working in the garden they become a part of that process, a win-win for sure. The children’s art surrounds this beautiful, healthy garden and it is so uplifting to watch the ribbons blowing in the wind, hearing the chimes and seeing the ripple of the crocheted ropes. Ms. Mellet told me that they, like many gardeners in Western Pennsylvania, have had an ongoing battle keeping deer away from their garden. After a few failed attempts with other methods, they were inspired by the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh’s Knit the Bridge project which covered the Andy Warhol Bridge in knitted and crocheted panels. The good news….it’s working. The deer are staying away and the plants are thriving.

Why don’t you take some inspiration from Osborne and tie some colorful ribbons around your garden. Even if the deer still come, you’ll love watching the ribbons blowing in the breeze. This was indeed a very special gARTen!

It’s a White Week

June 28, 2015 by donna bogosto kearns

I recently reconnected with someone whom I consider to have been my angel at a time when I really needed one. Have you ever known that special person who when you’re in a tough place doesn’t say, “let me know if there’s anything I can do”? They just seem to know what that is and then they just do it, boom, done. They won’t take any argument, they’re just there for you and to that I say thank you and I’ll work harder to be that kind of person. So that made me think of angels which then made me think of white so that was my focus this week. That also reminded me that I can’t do everything alone so I ventured out to other gardens. I’ll be doing that more often. I have a very special garden that I’m going to share with you next week. You’ll love it. Anyway, back to white. Here’s a little info about the color, or non-color, white.

White is the color of purity and ultimate peace and surrender. It’s the color of clean, light without color. You can almost smell fresh laundry blowing in the breeze hanging on the clothesline when you think of white. It is a recall of youth and simplicity, innocence, and softness. It’s said if you wear white to bed you’ll have pleasant dreams. I like white. How about you?

p.s. I had to include the green frog – he’s too cute, and alas, not mine.

Enjoy your week!

RAINDROPS

June 21, 2015 by donna bogosto kearns

It rains a lot in Pittsburgh in June…this year, really a lot. However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when it feels like the sun is never coming out again. Don’t be afraid of a few raindrops, ok, well a lot, and know that eventually the sun will shine, if only for a little while, so be ready to enjoy.

This is sort of like life because we wouldn’t truly appreciate the sunshine or how good the rain can feel and sound if we don’t make the effort to find its splendor. I don’t know who wrote the saying “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain” but that certainly is true. We have to keep our eyes open for the opportunities to dance in the rain, close our eyes and hear it hitting the roof, and then being able to bask in the moments of sunshine.

They say every life has a little rain. Well, some folks have to make their way through a tsunami or two. I’m lucky because I’ve learned a couple of secrets along the way. Keep your eyes open for the break in the clouds and bask in that sunshine. Always have a raincoat ready so you can get out there and boogie in the raindrops.

Happy Father’s Day!

The Best Laid Plans

May 31, 2015 by donna bogosto kearns

I have been working on a project, a book titled The Joymaker Garden, and I have been having a hard time staying on task. It’s a very personal project (more info on that later) and maybe that’s why it’s so difficult, but I needed to find a vehicle to help me to stay motivated and focused. I’m very good at sorting paper clips so I had an idea. I remembered a book, Make Something 365 by Noah Scalin. The basic concept is to choose a subject, visit it daily for 365 days and document your work. You can grow your creativity, stay focused on your theme or do with it what you will but truly examine your subject. It can be broken down however you choose and I chose to photograph a garden throughout the seasons, 365 days, to stay focused on my priority, the book. The Joymaker Garden is a book that relates the life of a very special child to the seasons of a garden so one year seems like an appropriate time frame.

Enter the best laid plan. My plan was to take my daily photographs and then post in a weekly slideshow format. I can’t figure out how to make that slideshow happen so instead of turning this into a paper clip project, here are some of my favorite photos from this past week. And yes, even though this has been a very busy “life week”, I’ve finally gotten back to work on the primary project – The Joymaker Garden. Thanks for visiting, wish me luck, and maybe I’ll come and take some photos of your garden while I’m working on this project.