Juliet Batten Books

My latest Art in Nature post on Substack shares green metaphors for high spring, created back in 2006, on October 31.

It's a delight to be discovering these moments from my archives, delving into old journals for the stories, and the photo library for the images.

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Art in Nature: Beltane magic Circles, spirals, and wands, October 31, 2006: Metaphors began to form in my imagination for the regenerative energies of high spring at Beltane.

Does nature has a sense of humour? Winter has done a backwards flip and found itself standing in autumn — the serene autumn that we didn't have!

Remember? I wrote about it in an earlier Seasons Newsletter as the golden time that turned to grey.

Make the most of it! - Cool nights, sunny days, stability . . . just what we need. Autumn has arrived.

What do you think?

My bright moment for today. (The best are the ones I stumble upon.) Like this one.

I walked around a corner, and there they were, a bank of Bird of Paradise flowers, in top condition, craning their necks as if about to see an opera.

Better still, when I looked closer, I noticed the flowers were swarming with bees, too many to count, and the most I've seen in this neighbourhood.

I stood still and watched. Take a look at the photos and you'll see a bee going for the blue-purple 'tongue' on the flowers. The tongue is oozing with nectar and the bees were eager for it. I caught one bee working out the best way, and then diving in with its bottom up. (click on the photos for a good look).

Nature is full of humour, as well as colour and life.

What bright moments have come your way lately?

Celebrating the Southern Seasons; seven copies left.

Posting off a new order today, and celebrating the long life of this book.

I'm feeling the need for a lift. So I've decided to collect bright moments each day.

Today's bright moment: liquid amber in the midday sun.

What are your bright moments?

Breakfast with butterflies. That's been the theme of the last two weeks as I watched over the last of the bunch, after receiving a last batch of caterpillars to foster.

Would they survive now the season was cooling? Thanks to a week of sunny days, the chrysalises have eclosed to reveal 3 male and 2 females — all surprisingly strong, even those that emerged from small crystalises.

Remember the caterpillar that I caught on video, on 12 February, as it struggled to shed its skin and reveal the chrysalis beneath. Well, this morning I released her - yes, a beautiful female butterfly, the last of the season.

She flew out and up and around and landed in the camellia hedge opposite my window.

Mission accomplished!

Read the photos backwards to see her past lives.

Today's green walk - two hours at Wai Manawa/Le Roys Bush

Wai Manawa means 'heart water' and refers to the bush reserve and Little Shoal Bay in Auckland's Northcote, an abundant food source originally with freshwater fish, and kai moana.

I have never seen so much raupo in one place; it fills the valley and takes over from the mangroves at the place where salt water changes to fresh water. It was used for thatching.

Boardwalks have taken the place of bush tracks to protect the kauri from dieback disease. Deeper into the bush we paused at a spot that was charged with bird song as we fell into silence for 2 minutes to make a bird count. Five fat kereru cavorted in a tall taraire tree, making sure they were counted.

Thank you Auckland City Council for this second ranger-guided walk. I learned so much — hangihangi tips can be eaten and taste like lettuce, and if I'm caught in the bush and need to make a fire, all I have to do it to rub mahoe wood against tōtara for 20 minutes and have dry tinder on hand to catch the spark.

There's a tōtara in the photos below.

I'm noticing how the winter light picks up the beauty of shadowed landscapes in the distance and the brightness of flowers in the foreground. And as well, the stormy skies.

What are you noticing as the light changes?

We have many ceremonies for Anzac Day but are not so attentive to those who did not die because of war. I picked up fallen sticks and walked to the beach.

'Season of Remembrance' offers different ways to commemorate your loved ones on the threshold to winter: Samhain, the day/night of the dead, Last light. It is important to share our griefs in a way that is safe and contained.

Read more in my latest Seasons Newsletter. You may subscribe for free!

Seasons Newsletter: Season of remembrance Anzac Day, Samhain, Last Light: In Aotearoa we have many ceremonies for Anzac Day. However we are not so good at acknowledging our beloved ones who did not die in the war. Here are ceremonial ways to share your sorrow and find comfort.

Samhain
Comfort
Love

Why the red poppy on Anzac Day? The poppy grows on disrupted ground, as it did on the battlefields of Gallipoli. In ancient times it was a symbol of fertility, growing as now, in fields that had been ploughed for crops.

The poppy marks death and also resilience and life.

Recently I viewed this painting, Red Flowers, for the first time in decades. It was brought out of storage after an Australian woman saw it on emilyjacksonartist.com , the website for my mother's paintings, and wanted to know more. To my surprise, there was a red poppy!

She was not in a position to purchase, but the family has decided to keep the painting out of storage and offer it to a wider audience. We were struck by the vibrancy of the art work, and the fact that art writer Warwick Brown had singled it out for attention in an article that is reprinted in 'Emily Jackson, a Painter's Landscape' by Bronwen Nicholson.

Warwick Brown notes: 'Importantly, Jackson at the time was taking an interest in an area of modernism that is only now coming up for critical re-examination.’ (referring to the 1950s schools of Paris and European abstraction.)

He comments that ‘Garden Flowers of 1975, Red Flowers and Indian Summer, both 1980' are ’some of the most original and adventurous of Jackson’s works.’

If you are interested in viewing or purchasing 'Red Flowers', please message me or leave your email in the comments. Size is medium, 551 x 765 mm