Bud to Bloom

Bud to Bloom WIP watercolor by Meera Rao

Happy New Year!! I am relieved to start the new year with a negative test result for Covid. I was down with it for the last ten days of 2025 after dodging it for the past five years. As I recover, I decided I needed to do some art work everyday for my own wellbeing.  That decision has resulted in small 3x3" painting everyday as I record the amaryllis that was blooming. That was a wise choice! Posted above is the first twelve days of the my efforts.  There are still many more to come as I slowly make my way through the various stages and different angles of the bud to bloom chronology.  I am wondering if I also should record the end stages of the blooms.  

I am thrilled to discover in my research that  Amaryllis is considered a symbol of winter beauty and resilience in classical poetry by Milton and Thomas Campion to modern authors like Susan Meissner.

“An amaryllis is always waiting to delight and surprise you, 

even when your world seems cold and dark.” 

~Susan Meissner, Only the Beautiful~

How appropriate! I wish you all love, good health, positive energy, safety and peace in 2026.

Miracle of Life

digital photography by Meera Rao 

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”

– Buddha

Happy Vishu

A Day in the Life-page 6 color pencils and pen

Happy Vishu - New Year to all. Today is New Year for most of the people in southern India. I did this page in my sketchbook for the Fiction project 'A day in the Life - in Blue Jeans with Gold Embroidery' a few weeks ago and waited to post :) The entry describes a ceremony from most Hindu households in the south on Vishu-Ugady day.

The copy reads:

I light the lamp on my altar. A mirror is the latest addition -a reminder of a special kind. In southern India where I grew up, the New Year is ushered in with a ceremony many centuries old. The night before, a special shrine is assembled in prayer room/corner with season's first fresh vegetables and ripe fruits, arranged around a mirror draped with fresh flowers and gold jewelry. The next morning, each family member is led to the shrine with the eyes closed. We open our eyes in front of the shrine looking into the mirror, now surrounded by lit lamps. shining in the midst of this beauty and abundance is our own face in the mirror. It is a beautiful reminder of the divinity in each of us. The same divinity that pervades all. I wanted to have that reminder everyday of my life.

I did assemble the special 'kani' shrine last night and looked in the mirror  this morning :) And a mirror has been a permanent addition in my altar since January 1 - the new year in the western calendar.