This mountain
has become
so familiar to me
over the years
and beloved
by my whole family.


.

It's been a few years
since we've had such a good flower Summer
on the Mountain.



.

Glorious early-morning sunshine
(and a deer)
in the lower meadows
on Mt. Rainier.



.

This is my final day
at the place I have worked
for the last 2.5 years.

Hope and fear,
anxiety and excitement,
contentment and longing--
The duality of emotions
has been on my mind lately,
as I have not been able to feel one
without it's counterpart also being present
for several weeks.

I start a new job on Monday.


I offer it up
to how I felt
when I took this photograph--
centered,
exultant & ecstatic--
and trust
in that.


.

This time is bittersweet.
My heart is tender,
a ripely swollen peach
that ruptures
at the slightest touch.

I mourn,
even as I celebrate.
The days of Summer's bright expansion
and frenzied relaxation
give way to the gleam of Autumn's gold,
and harvesttime
on the horizon.

The change in the light
is apparent to anyone who really looks.

--

I've been so behind,
but I still have quite a few
summer photos to share!
Coming soon...

.

It is the light that makes the seasons.



----

Laura Veirs has a new album coming out!


.

A few glimpses
of where I've been working lately.

I moved out of my painting studio
several months ago,
and with all the wedding to-do's and busyness,
I never got around
to setting up a new space.

It feels so good to have a studio nook
in my home again,
& the light
is perfect.


.

I came up with the idea for these hearts
when I was nearing the end of the planning
for my wedding in May.
Pacific Northwest springtime ephemerals
were my greatest decor inspiration,
and I wanted a special, personal image that reflected this theme
to adorn the hand-sewn books I had created to hold our vows.

I feverishly sketched and painted two copies of my first floral heart design,
and I know that this image on our vow-books
is something that my husband and I will always treasure.

The idea of creating custom hearts for people
that are formed of flowers
that may have equally important meaning to them
as my own original heart design held for me--
I find that endlessly inspiring.

----

Order a custom heart illustration for your own wedding,
and grow it out of the flowers chosen for the bridal bouquet,
or blossoms that are special to you and your loved one.

Use the Victorian Language of Flowers
to send a message to someone dear:
gardenia for sweet love,
purple heather for protection,
ferns for sincerity.

Or simply create a lovely heart from favorite blooms,
to brighten up your walls even in the dead of winter!

----

Custom heart illustrations are $135 each,
with your choice of up to 5 types of flowers/foliage to form your wreath out of.
Each heart will be completely original and unique to you.

For more information, please visit my Etsy shop!






.

While it was stressful at times,
the thing that ultimately struck me so clearly
about the months that I spent planning my wedding
was how inspired I felt!

As a cubicle dweller with a fine arts degree,
it is easy for me to forget
how vital and essential art making is
to my day-to-day well-being and happiness.
Over the years, I've found many different ways
to incorporate creativity into my life,
but often my first artistic love of drawing and painting
gets put on the shelf for a different day, another time.

But painting away
on designs for invitations, decorations, and other paper details for my wedding
reminded me how good it feels to consistently illustrate
for a project that I am passionate about.

Now that the wedding is over
(passed in a lovely, springtime dream!),
I've been brainstorming ideas for ways to foster that feeling
of inspiration that sustained me so.

Which is why I am excited
to share something soon
that will hopefully help spur me on
to do just that--
follow what I love.


.

Now that our wedding is passed
I'd like to share the invitation suite I designed for it!

I had so much fun working on the whole thing,
and these pieces are very special to me.

The invitation,
RSVP card,
& thank you note
feature my original watercolor illustrations.
I ordered a custom stamp from one of my drawings
to print the wildflower seed favors.
The postage stamps were created
from a few of my favorite photographs
that were taken last Spring.




.

Photo by Ross Crollard



We're wedded,
& honeymooned,
and home again!


I'm Maggie Rutherford, now!



We are supremely happy.






.

This is a
Springtime mix of songs
that I have been listening to
almost without pause
for the past month or so.

I thought I'd share it here,
because to me
it seems
to perfectly suit
the season.

Blush, Cerulean, & Pearl - April 2013
+ Been So Long - Vetiver
+Starving Robins - Horse Feathers
+Springtime Can Kill You - Jolie Holland
+Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles
+Spring Song - Laura Veirs
+April Comes She Will - Simon & Garfunkle
+Sunny Road - Emilíana Torrini
+Milk-Heavy, Pollen-Eyed - Laura Gibson
+A Heart Divided - Holly Throsby
+Towards The Sun - Alexi Murdoch
+Haze - Essie Jain
+Pretty Fair Damsel - Samamidon
+Love Is Not Like Roses- Cocos Lovers
+Snow Is Gone - Josh Ritter


.

I've started running again,
like last year at this time,
up and down the quiet side-streets
near my home.

I've run beneath arched tunnelways of
cherry blossoms,
their flowers drifting around me,
not like snow,
but like the petals that they are,
quiet,
breath-hushing,
luminous in their pale pink.

I've heard a bird sing
and I noticed it as if
I had never heard a bird sing before,
awake and excited,
the both of us.

I've watched the daffodils
announce themselves and the season,
gleaming gold,
then fading over the weeks
to ochre,
umber.

I've seen the tulips begin to appear,
their rainbow shades
as bright on days when
the shadowy sky hovers,
rich with rain,
as on days of sun.

I am getting married
in,
about,
a month.

!

(I've felt no desire to share
my wedding planning here,
and that planning
has fairly consumed me
these past several months.
It has been an enjoyable
and inspiring
experience,
much more so
than I ever imagined it would be,
to be honest.)

And as I run my paths,
and watch and listen,
and note the changes,
and marvel at the Spring,
unfurling each day,
I think about how
we will be marrying
at the height of this season
of blooms,
and growth,
and life.

This has been the longest break between posts
since I began Folkloric
4.5 (!) years ago.

Some recent health issues have kept me from
doing much photography lately,
deeply personal wedding schemes
have taken my extra energy and inspiration,
and a general re-assessment of
what I do here
and why I do it
has kept me from this space.

I want Folkloric to be
a potent blend of words and images,
not just a stream of photographs
or something churned out quickly.
I want it to be a thing
with weight,
heft.

I've tended this spot on the internet
for quite a while now,
but I don't think I'm yet ready
to give it up.

Hopefully it can grow some fresh things
in the New Year.

Until then,
I wish the happiest of Holidays to all,
and thank you, as always, for following,
near and far.