Saturday, September 13, 2025

Pic(k) of the Week: Españolas morningtide

Españolas morningtide

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

Españolas (2010)
painted concrete
Marianne Lerbs

St. Augustine Sculpture Garden: City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida, USA. 12 September 2025.

St. Augustine is the oldest continuously populated city in the continental United States, founded by Spanish explorers in 1565. It is easy to envision female colonists, the Españolas, promenading on Sundays beneath their parasols, much like the scene captured by the sculptor. (The small city of St. Augustine Beach is of much more recent vintage, located just to the southeast.)


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About Marianne Lerbs

I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela during the sixties. Now, I am a multidisciplinary artist, painter, muralist and sculptress. I am a College level art instructor and recipient of Artist in Residence grants in Jacksonville, FL. I have participated several times in Jacksonville's Cultural Council Art in Public Programs, developing murals, banners and large art panels. I was pre-selected by the Police Athletic League with a proposal with large size colorful concrete pillows for their outdoor areas. I have designed and executed large mosaic murals for the Florida Museum of Natural History. I recently completed two commissions, a collection of paintings inspired on St. Augustine's female historic figures, and a series based on Floridian history. I completed three monumental sculptures for the St. Augustine Sculpture Garden in St. Augustine Beach, Florida.
Marianne Lerbs


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Return to Forever: Spain

Album: Light as a Feather (Label: Polydor)
Released 1973; recorded 1972.

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Saturday, September 06, 2025

Pic(k) of the Week: Jewelweed corolla

Jewelweed corolla

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

Close-up blossom: just one in a riot of orange jewelweed wildflowers blooming on a woodland trail.

Mason Mill Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 21 August 2025.

Impatiens capensis — commonly known as jewelweed, orange jewelweed, touch-me-not — is an annual plant in the Balsaminaceae family, native to North America, growing in moist soil including forests, streambanks, and bogs.

Jewelweed is a herbaceous plant that grows 3 to 5 feet tall (0.9–1.5 m), branching extensively. The leaves are ovate, with shallow, rounded teeth on the margins. The plant blooms from late spring to early fall. The flowers are orange (sometimes yellow), ¾ to 1¼ inches long (2 to 3 cm), with a three-lobed corolla[collection of petals in a flower, sometimes in the form of a tube.]

The seed pods have five valves which coil back rapidly to eject the seeds in a process called explosive dehiscence, triggered by a light touch, hence the name 'touch-me-not.' Dew or rain beads on the leaves forming sparkling droplets that give rise to the common name of 'jewelweed.' "

North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
Wikipedia.

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