Now that monsoon season seems to have passed and the sun is again in full splendor the daylilies have exploded like so many fireworks – particularly when the filtered morning light shines through them.
Download Desktop
1440 x 900
1920 x 1200
Currently the studio garden is dominated by blues which makes these yellow iris stand out like a forest of little light houses as the morning sun filters through them.
Download
1440 x 900
1920 x 1200
Thank you to everyone who attended the ASLA-MN seminar “The Competitive Landscape – Insights to Help Landscape Architects Use Marketing to Define the Terrain”. It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope you learned a few things and came away enthused about the opportunities to market yourself or your company in exciting new ways that benefit both you and your audience. Please feel free to download the presentation so you can continue the conversation.
Download Presentation (19mb pdf)
I always enjoy working on the studio garden but today is one of those spectacular days when I could grab my laptop, sit in the shade of the Lilac and enjoy working in the studio garden. I know I shared Anemones yesterday but the light seemed to be particularly interested in them today. Besides, they’re Cindy’s favorite.
Download
1440 x 900
1920 x 1200
It was a rainy week weather-wise and a busy week work-wise so the glorious weekend was quite a relief. After their long drink the Snowdrop Anemones are blooming in profusion and reaching for the sky like somebody yelled “Jesse James” at a banking convention.
Download
1440 x 900
1920 x 1200
I was surprised to see these miniature Iris up already. Perhaps simply because they don’t have as far to go at just about five inches high but I prefer to believe they are just eager.
Download
1440 x 900
1920 x 1200
There was a brief window of beautiful filtered light this morning before the forces of evil gathered enough power to cloud the sky in an ongoing effort to make sure my parents (who fly in today) never see Minnesota at its best. So even though it is gray outside you can have a sunny spot on your computer occupied by this Vinca Minor which is one of the few things in the garden that seems to grow slowly.
Download
1440 x 900
1920 x 1200
It’s another lovely day and the crabapple tree in the bsol studio garden is in full splendor. Here’s a new desktop background you can download to help you celebrate Spring wherever you find yourself.
Download
1440 x 900
1920 x 1200
One of my favorite things about working at BrainstormOverload (in addition to the gourmet hot cocoa) is the studio garden. Like all the other projects at bsol it’s a work in progress but one that is particularly wonderful in Spring when the garden seems to change almost daily. Why am I keeping all this blooming goodness to myself you demand? Good point. In an effort to share this is the first in a series of desktop calendars I’ll post (not daily but regularly) here on our blog. The calendar makes it useful and I’ve always liked the texture of type over a photograph. Each date following a vertical line is a Monday. I’ll also provide the plant name in case you are inspired to work in your own garden which I highly recommend as a terrific creative outlet. I’ll start with the following standard (Mac) screen resolutions. Let me know if the size you need is not represented.
Download
1440 x 900
1920 x 1200
Winter Solstice has been celebrated by many cultures for many thousands of years. And why not – it’s a big deal. What better occasion to gather together and find comfort in our connections with friends and family than the longest night of the year? Modern life often finds us far from our relations which is why sending a card is such a nice tradition. The time it takes to create, write and subsequently read brings us closer to one another. Granted it’s not quite the same as an all night, star-gazing, bonfire amidst the megaliths but it’s a nice bit of ceremony none the less.
So, in an effort to celebrate connections with colleagues, friends and family I’ve created the third annual, limited edition, BrainstormOverload Winter Solstice Card. Since I can’t send one to everyone I’ve linked to a pdf version of the design here. It won’t have a personalized note that way but given how I’m inclined to go on perhaps that’s best.
In the design on the front of the card each season’s solstice (or equinox) is represented by two arcs. A gray one for night and a colored one for day – the length of each being determined by the number of hours of light or darkness translated into degrees of circumference around a circle where 360 degrees signifies 12 hours. Possibly more than you wanted to know but it underscores how everything in Nature is simultaneously beautiful and meaningful. I hope it will bring a little color and connection to your evening on December 21st and that 2010 is a beautiful and meaningful year.
