apple time

APPLES are a quintessential part of autumn. They signal the cool, crisp weather to come with their own brand of cool crispness. Having just eaten a late lunch with some friends on a clear-skied autumn day on a restaurant patio, none of us indulged with a finish of dessert. But as we were standing in the restaurant's parking lot saying our goodbyes, I noticed the blackboard touting a new seasonal offering for dessert—an apple-pecan cheesecake. I went back in as we were leaving and ordered a piece to go. It sounded like the perfect thing for a bright fall day such as this. I'm glad I did, because the cheesecake itself was dotted with cubed apples and topped with chopped pecans. It was coupled with a sweet caramel sauce, which rendered it as perfect taste of autumn.

GEORGIA is well known for its summer peaches (and peanuts, boiled or otherwise), but more and more, its becoming known for its autumn apples. As they are grown in the north Georgia mountains, I made a special trip to Ellijay, in north Georgia to buy a variety of the first of the season's apples for this post, and filled in with a couple of "Yankee" varieties imported to the local supermarket for good measure. While not exactly a "tree," this centerpiece of apples stacked on a tiered wooden stand is a beautiful way to decorate for the season. The variety of natural-color-coordinated apples lend themselves well to such a dramatic display of their inherent beauty. This harkens back to the wooden German tree stands (or pyramids) that held evergreens, fruit, nuts, and other baubles around the holidays (thought to be the predecessor to the Christmas tree). The forerunner of the pyramid was a construction known as a "Lichtergestelle" (literally: light stand) which were very popular in the 18th century.

ELLIJAY, Georgia has a yearly apple festival which spans over two weekends in October. The Ellijay Lion's Club, the Gilmer County Chamber of Commerce, the cities of Ellijay and East Ellijay, and Gilmer County join forces to usher in the autumn season with a bumper crop of apples. The 42nd Georgia Apple Festival will be held the weekends of October 12-13th and October 19th and 20th. There will be over 300 vendors with handmade, hand-crafted items, as well as many on-site demonstrations of how selected types of crafts are made.

ALTHOUGH most apple farmers in North Georgia don't adhere to organic methods to grow their apples, my friend Margie Thorpe has ferreted out one farmer named "David" who she gets organically-grown heirloom variety apples from in Ellijay. You can contact her through her "Vegetable Husband" website to procure a few of David's organic apples in her baskets of fresh produce. Near Ellijay at Mountain Valley Farm, you can stock up on fresh milk products, including roll butter and homemade ice cream. They also sell farm fresh eggs that have never been refrigerated or had the natural just-laid bloom washed from them (which helps prevent bacteria from permeating the eggshell) and a variety of delicious grass-fed meats (frozen to carry home). If you don't want to veer off the beaten path, in nearby Blue Ridge, Mercier Orchards is probably the most visited "apple house" in the area boasting a variety of their own branded products for sale (aside from many varieties of apples). Their famous fried pies are a must! If you are not an adventurous sort, an easy stop is Penland's Apple House just off the main road heading into Ellijay from Atlanta (Highway 515).

AUTUMN wraps up the abundance of crops grown in the summertime, but autumn is the time for enjoying the crop that defines the apple season. Here's to a big piece of apple pie with ice cream, or just a pie in your hand that's been fried and lightly glazed. Or as I enjoyed today, a piece of apple-pecan cheesecake with a drizzle of caramel sauce. But just a for a simple treat, there's nothing else like a fresh crisp apple, sliced and eaten out-of-hand. It's a time to celebrate the bounty of the season, no matter how you slice it!

©2013 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

photography and styling by Darryl Moland

the (un)decorated tree

ALPINE MAGIC | The Decorated Tree's first tree, The Alpine Feather Tree is now for sale to the public. Sure to become your next family heirloom, you can purchase yours here.

I AM HAPPY to announce the first (and second) exclusively-marketed trees designed by yours truly at The Decorated Tree. I drew up the plans and the first trees that you see in this post were made-to-order by Dennis Bauer. The trees went live on the Hometraditions.com website just this weekend.

The front of the tag for the tree reads: THANK YOU for selecting The Decorated Tree’s Alpine Feather Tree. An artist’s unique vision and a craftman’s fine handiwork are united to create a museum-quality heirloom. Hometraditions is pleased to offer this feather tree designed by Darryl Moland, creator of The Decorated Tree blog. Each tree is handcrafted from real goose feathers by Dennis Bauer in Ohio, one of the best-known craftsmen stateside to uphold German tradition. www.hometraditions.com is proud to provide you with a fresh take on an old craft.—MANY HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The back of the tag for the tree reads: EMBELLISH each season with The Decorated Tree—holiday fantasy intertwined with the rich symbolism of nature. A time-honored Yuletide ritual has become a modern tradition any time of year. This large (12"x 12") 144-page, hardbound and dust-jacketed coffee table book contains the best of the blog’s informative stories. Accompanied by 183 inspiring full-color images, this book will become your decorating resource for every holiday, every year.—CELEBRATING THE SEASONS 

FEATHER TREE TRADITION | The alternate version of The Alpine Feather tree is more traditional in shape. It is wider and features seven rows of snow-capped branches. You can purchase yours here.

HOMETRADITIONS.COM is known for their finely-crafted feather trees handmade by Dennis Bauer, who has also made many custom trees for the staff of Martha Stewart Living magazine, which are also available on the site. Ann Pummel, proprietor of Hometraditions contacted The Decorated Tree and in our conversations, we arrived at the idea that I could design a tree for them. I know all about decorating, but this was a first for me in thinking about an undecorated tree. For sure, I immediately knew I wanted a slender tree with a long trunk that would fit into a small space. I dubbed the tree "The Decorated Tree's Alpine Feather Tree." It was an amazing opportunity to have something made that I would like to see on the market. Now it is a reality—a dream come true—thanks to an amazing collaborationd between Ann Pummel, Dennis Bauer and I. Please place your orders early, as each tree is handcrafted individually by Dennis. Even though it's only September, the holiday season is closer than you think!

TAGGED AND READY | Your tree will arrive with this tag tied to its branches. You can see and order both versions here, available in your choice of two trunk colors. Whitewashing the trunk with thinned milk paint (instructions on the Hometraditions site) gives it a snowy effect. Order both versions here.

THE DECORATED VERSION of the slim profile tree at the top of this post will be featured in Matthew Mead's Christmas All Through the House. I can't reveal much about it until his publication hits the market, but let's just say the tree is transformed into a bright and modern take on an old tradition. I'm very excited about the unveiling of the final results in the magazine. A lot of collaboration between Matthew and I went into developing a plan for the overall color scheme and some of the details included in the story in which it is included.

YOU'LL HEAR MORE about Matthew's magazine/bookazine (two versions) on this site when it becomes available sometime in mid-to-late October on newsstands everywhere and on Amazon.com—so save the date! Right now Matthew has an amazing Halloween Spooktacular publication for sale. You'll also be able to check back on Matthew's site when it shifts gear as each holiday issue is published.

THE DECORATED TREE would also love to see how you decorate your tree purchased from Hometraditions. I plan to have my first decorating contest involving readers of this blog! Join me in the excitement of creating meaningful holiday decor for every season!

©2013 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

tree design, photography and styling by Darryl Moland
handcrafted tree by Dennis Bauer
 for Hometraditions.com

endless summer

THIS SUMMER has been an unbalanced liquid mixture of emotions which tilt to one side or the other and give me the feeling that I will never regain my sea legs. I've been thrown off balance like never before through a lost relationship and other surrounding turmoil. That's why I haven’t posted on my blog for a while. But with time as our most constant and dependable friend, things have a way of finding equilibrium and balance again. One really finds out who their friends are during times like these. I've realized that instead of giving all my love away, I have to begin with a good portion for myself. It's definitely one of life's hardest lessons to learn (and relearn). Once again, I'm finding my way back, finally. And again, I'm sure I'll forget, because when I love, it's from a deep place in my heart and soul and I lose my head in the clouds of what could have been.

BEACH BEAUTY | This festive tree combines a beach-inspired assemblage of mercury glass shell ornaments; starfish ornaments of all shapes, colors and kinds; glittered "sea creatures"; mother-of-pearl covered orbs; and tiny mercury glass ornament punctuations of teals, greens and gold.

EVEN THOUGH I haven't made a trip to the beach since last November (to Mexico), the abundance of the summer rain this year has been a welcome relief from the heat of a landlocked city. Fortunately, an effect of this seems to be that there has been a cleansing of souls all around. Astrologically speaking, June and July this summer were dominated by what is called the Grand Water Trine. According to Michael Lennox, a newly discovered astrologer I've enjoyed reading (and watching), it’s an astrological configuration created by Neptune in Pisces, Saturn in Scorpio, and all of the planets that have recently been in Gemini entering into the early degrees of Cancer—the three water signs. When the planets line up in this way, they create a harmonious flow between them, offering up the benefits of such a flow of energy. And water simply moves around and over any obstacle instead of getting trapped. This so-called Grand Water Trine assists us in finding the flow.

SEASHELLS by the SEASHORE | A thoughtful mixture of sea-themed ornaments creates a magical memory of the beach.

THIS BEACH-THEMED TREE celebrates a shift toward a much-needed matriarchal softness in the world that the recent astrological events are supposed to bring. My previous posts entitled Under the Stars and Heartstrings were mostly laments. Ironically enough, this post’s tree was planned well before either of the former posts, as I've carefully gathered the elements for it for many months, starting last autumn. It has been a process-oriented gathering, which I could never get to come together because I always felt something was missing. What was missing was me, and my ability to pull myself together—I had all the elements in place all along, but I have to say that a few key items were added to the mix along the way that made a symbolic difference. This tree has the bright magic of a subdued summer Christmas, which is entirely appropriate—at least figuratively. 'Tis the season.

LUCKY STAR | This pressed tin star (Hecho en Mexico) is a symbol of my last trip to the beach in Tulum, Mexico last November. One of the last additions to my gathering of decorations for this tree, I bought it at Atlanta's High Museum Shop during their fantastic Frida and Diego exhibit this year (now closed). Associations like this give resonance to the ornaments I use to create a tree.

BOOK of DREAMS | Available here.

The preface of the summer section of my book based on this blog still resonates and amplifies the metaphors I associate with the ocean. Memories of childhood trips to the beach, riding the waves and soaking in the summer sun have replayed in my mind all my life. Reality has caught up with me again and I'm metaphorically (and astrologically) riding the waves created back to solid ground again. Devin literally saved my life when I was overwhelmed by the ocean waves in Tulum, Mexico one day last November, and now I've found myself having to save my life all on my own. It's funny how reality can become metaphor again. Here is the preface of the summer section of my book in its entirety (as adapted from my original blog post):

ONE OF MY FIRST MEMORIES is of pointing to the ocean. Throughout my life my parents told me that the first word I uttered was “see” as I pointed out to the sea. A trip to the beach with my parents and siblings was a yearly summer ritual. In true road-trip fashion, there were few finite plans made before hitting the road. The drive to the beach would begin before the crack of dawn to ensure we could find a place to stay before nightfall. Since I was the youngest of four siblings by a ten-year gap, it was always a middle-of-the-backseat trip. I would lean with my elbows on the back of the front seat between them. Daddy's Lincoln Continental was like a smoothly cruising land yacht sailing to paradise. Because he was so anxious to reach our destination, it was almost impossible to get my father to stop during our trip. Once there, we would check out the scene at the beach before finding a motel with a vacancy. The limitless horizon of the ocean and the rhythm of the waves never cease to lull me back to that place where the breezes cool even as the sun warms my face. Recalling and projecting in my mind's eye the flickering Super 8 movies my father made of our summer vacations, I can ponder the limitless possibilities in life and death. In my dreams, summer never really ends.

SUMMER SPREAD | The opening spread of the summer section of my book (which gathers decorating ideas for celebrating the four seasons).

TOP SHELL | I simply removed the cap from one of the mercury glass shell ornaments and turned it upside down to produce a unique tree topper.

READ IT AND WEEP | Remember the 2010 Gulf Oil Disaster? Still buying gas at BP? Read this scathing article. 

Please revisit my original post lamenting the BP disaster if you missed it in 2010 or have forgotten about it (I refused to ever call it a "spill"). In a season of beach-themed trees for The Decorated Tree, it's entirely appropriate to get mad about the BP cover up all over again. I hope the beauty of the beaches you visit and the lull of the ocean springs you back into action to do something to raise awareness to keep this sort of thing from happening again. (Regretfully, the stickers my friends and I made—detailed at the end of the post—to remind people about the devastation that was happening are no longer available). 

©2013 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

collecting, photography and styling by Darryl Moland

under the stars

IF FOR NO OTHER REASON than to wish for a true soul partner—gazing upward at a starry sky from an unencumbered beach unspoiled by the lights of civilization—can bring one’s destiny into focus. An entirely romantic notion? Possibly. But it is worthwhile to succumb to the humbling presence of limitless sky. In a fleeting moment, you can feel as though you’ve tapped into the divine plan for the universe. 

SEASHELLS AND CANDLELIGHT | An assemblage of shells and other objects, a few of which were found on the beach at Tulum; encroach the container of this driftwood tree. The candle (its cucumber lime scent being named Tulum) was one of a few thoughtful birthday gifts this year from Devin Borden, my fellow traveler (and partner of two years) to that magical place in Mexico last November. The small "tree" attached to a piece of coral was found during a walk down the beach at sunrise on the last morning of our trip. Aside from the many unforgettable memories, this is the most cherished souvenir I returned home with—a piece of nature serving as a sort of divining rod to uncover the inspiration and resonance for this post's writing months after this life-changing trip.

HAVING THIS EXPERIENCE with someone you wish to be a living and growing part of your life will ignite a fire at your core that can never be extinguished by absence. If anything, if you truly love someone, “absence does make the heart grow fonder.” Plato theorized that each person is half of an androgynous being split by the gods, creating male and female. Within us, at a deeply subconscious level, we know something is amiss; and we seek wholeness again.

THE DIVIDE might not always be a distinct separation between male and female. There are components of both in all of us. Like puzzle pieces without an image imprinted on them, it is difficult to recognize how the fit comes together. But with enough turns, and enough inward and outward examination, the shapes can finally be matched and locked together.

DRIFTWOOD AND STARS | The garland loosely wrapped around this driftwood tree is made from plastic-coated electrical wire in yellow and green, strung with metal stars implying the "electric circuitry" of the night sky. These stars have been oxidized to create a rich verdigris patina—representing the alchemy and magic seen in the night sky layered with millions of stars.

THE LIGHT REFLECTED from the stars speaks to us. When laid bare before our eyes we are reminded that we are tiny pieces of an unimaginably infinite universe. We can be manipulated by change as easily as the slightest breeze wafts yesterday’s dust into a corner. But we can will ourselves to make our lives happen right before us. We always have a choice to seek, to learn, and to find our own paths.

SUPERNATURAL TOPPER | I've cherished this unusual winged mermaid for many years. Holding the treetop star, she finds a symbolic home atop this tree. With her fish tail and wings, she embodies the link between the earth and the sky, creating a perfect visual metaphor for the larger-than-the-both-of-us connection we felt that night under the stars.

THIS IS THE STUFF of life. Our journey, our meanderings under an infinite immovable sky, are revealed to us in an awesome glory, guiding us in ways beyond our will, beyond our reality, and beyond our imagination. Finding this resonance with a soul partner is the ultimate intent of my dreams. I want us to grow together into a creation unimagined by our limited view of events and ideas for which we absurdly place a label of truth.

STAR PATINA | Some of the metal stars developed interesting color patterns during the oxidation process, forming a varied, but cohesive palette for the neutral background of driftwood assembled into a tree.

THE REAL TRUTH is found in our humblest moments. Moments that resonate at our core in an honest movement through time and space that is entirely precious and profoundly creative. This creative force is love—pure and simple. What our past was, as seen from our future deserves more than a blink when looking back across our shoulders. It is possible that an eternally binding love still grows between us.

MAY THE BLINDING ambient and “civilized“ artificial light of our daily lives not obscure the stars. May we always remember the way we felt and what we saw in that multi-layered night together. And may we learn to cherish those who make us whole again. May we learn to assemble those fleeting moments into a union as sure as the footprints we leave in the damp sand. And maybe we’ll finally see those limitless moments as clearly as the unobscured starry skies we look deeply into to navigate our futures—together—even if we’re apart.

ONE MUST STILL HAVE CHAOS IN ONESELF TO GIVE BIRTH 

TO A DANCING STAR. 

—NIETZSCHE

TULUM MEMORIES | A vacation collage assembled from only a few of the photos from our trip to Tulum, Mexico in November 2012. In the photo of me at bottom left, I'm holding a diminuative "tree" embedded in a piece of coral, after finding it on the last morning of our stay there. Instantly becoming one of my most cherished trip souvenirs, it makes a reappearance among the seashells in the photos above—a definite talisman of good memories and future dreams.

WATCH THIS! WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO AWE:

©2013 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

collecting, photography and styling by Darryl Moland

elegant easter

A REFRESHED state of mind after the dreary months of winter is what spring brings to all of us. "How appropriate—Easter’s focus on rebirth, celebration, growth, and forgiveness. That’s just about where you’ll be when it gets here," my coworker Yvonne Green offered up after wishing me a great weekend of renewal while stating how nice the weather was finally going to be. She prefaced these words with "It’s a beautiful Friday and it’s going to be a fabulously, gorgeous weekend. Do at least one thing each day to love yourself."

LOVING YOURSELF is the hardest lesson to learn, especially when your focus is on loving others. It could be argued that the selflessness of loving others is also loving yourself, but it's not really the same thing when you think about it. Loving yourself is a more conscious effort because you have to look inward. And everyone knows that if you love yourself, then it's easier for others to love you. That's my mission this spring. It will be a time of rebirth, celebration, growth and forgiveness, both for myself as well as the people that I love. And the only way it will happen is if I start the process within.

WHETHER YOU ARE religious or not, spring's promise as heralded by the Easter holiday is definitely a universal theme that spans across many belief systems. The truth lies at the core of the thought process in combining the words that I am pointed to and forming thoughts around them. As always, creating a new tree and thinking about what to write for my post is my meditative process, of sorts.

EASTER BLING | These fancy crackled mercury glass eggs with rhinestone-studded metal caps make Easter an elegant affair. The eggs were bought at TJ Maxx. The other foil-covered eggs are by Martha Stewart for Grandinroad from a previous season. A better-quality egg-shaped goose-feather tree similar to the one above can be found at Hometraditions.com.

REBIRTH. This is a biggie. This means shedding all the stuff that once seemed so life-giving or that only temporarily filled a void and forcing yourself to take that first deep worldly breath again. It's easy to become reliant on the people you have grown to love and it is easy to take them for granted. Nurture these relationships and find fresh new ways to enrich them.

CELEBRATION. If this tree doesn't say that, I don't know what does. The egg theme is not happenstance around Easter. It is the most resonant symbol for new life there could be. An egg-shaped goose feather tree emphasizes the theme. And everyone knows that the shiny metallic eggs are always the the ones containing the prize!

PETER COTTONTAIL  | In a market filled with cartoonish Easter bunnies, this Peter Cottontail is a well-dressed relief—I found him at Homegoods. The Easter Surprise glass-glittered egg container was a beautiful gift from a friend a few years back and is an original design by Wendy Addison for Tinsel Trading in NYC, New York. And sweet yellow daffodils are placed in the shot in memory of my father.

GROWTH. With any birth or rebirth, the growth process begins for the first time or once again. The miraculousness that Mother Nature brings in spring gives us proof all around, from the bulbs that spring out of the ground, to the budding trees and flowers that abound. Spring is all about new growth.

FORGIVENESS. This is as hard a lesson in life—maybe harder—than learning to love yourself. Forgiveness is something that releases the very core of energy within all of us to find a new purpose. It literally clears the clutter in our minds and hopefully in our physical lives and makes room for more love. After all, love is the life force within all of us. It is the feeling that is produced when we are closest to the divine. That is why it is so highly sought after and sits on the fence between pain and joy. It's up to us most of the time to decide which side of the fence we want it to fall into.

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PRIZE EGG | This goose egg-sized mercury glass egg embellished with fancy rhinestone accents is a prize in itself—found at TJ Maxx a few years ago.

THANKFULNESS. I continue to thank all the people that find resonance in the words and photos that I put together for this blog. I'm sensing a new direction and maybe less attention will be paid to it as I clear the way for a future unencumbered by my past—literally and figuratively. This blog has always been a catharsis for me to move through some very tough times in my life and make something beautiful out of it—to find the joy by putting it out for the world to see. And they do. Just today, I've had visitors to my blog from all around the world (Stateside from Kansas, Oregon, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia, Ohio, Massachusetts, Alabama, New Jersey, California, New York; and worldwide from Canada, Germany, Tunisia, The Netherlands, The Russian Federation, and even way down under in Australia). What my blog might morph into now remains to be seen. There may not be as many posts or they might just change focus (showcasing collections comes to mind) as I attend to things in life that have been pushed to the forefront and to clearing the clutter from underneath it. Know that I will find a way to keep it all interesting. This is my creative outlet after all.

TREE BASE | This heavy ironstone container is traced with vines and leaves and makes the perfect spring container for this elegant tree. The small handmade ceramic vessel, holding pale speckled malted milk eggs was made and given to me by my good friend Jamie Callen Sells.

SPRING FORWARD. This Daylight Savings Time business throws everyone off kilter because we start our days earlier in the spring. I would prefer at its outset to keep Standard Time in accordance with the natural rules of our planet. Even so, life is still a forward-moving process. We can look back, but we can't dwell on the time that we have lost. We can still carry that forward with us as our judgement found in discerning the new things that come our way and making the best of them in the longer and warmer days ahead.

©2013 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

collecting, photography and styling by Darryl Moland

heart strings

LOVE is connection. A deep connection that pulls at your heart strings. Whether you love, have loved or lost—these connections always feel achingly similar. Valentine's day has never been one of my favorite holidays, because when you're not able to be with those you hold dearest to your heart for any reason, then it seems insignificant at best and heartbreaking at its worst.

FRAGILE HEARTS | A red-gridded heart was tied to a special Christmas gift my mother received from me years ago and is from Neiman Marcus. The small bumpy ornament (left) is an antique reproduction by Bethany Lowe Designs, which I purchased last year from Bayberry Cove and part of a varied set of three seen on the tree. A ceramic faux bois vase makes the perfect container to give the tree height.

MY MOTHER, who would have celebrated her 89th birthday on February 10th of this year originally inspired this collection of heart ornaments. Part of this collection was started many years ago—as they were individually tied to Christmas gifts I gave to her—one-by-one. They were never meant for Valentine's Day until four years after she had passed. I first photographed  them for a blog post on her birthday in 2009 entitled Hearts of Glass. As I hold these ornaments touched by her and tied by heartstrings, I'm firmly connected somehow to worlds unknown.

HEART BLING | These two hearts may seem like the odd men out on the tree, but they are significant to me for many reasons. The metal rhinestone-studded wings folded into a heart shape is one of two such ornaments I randomly happened upon at Homegoods a few years back, where this past season I also found this glittered Oberfrankishe Glas heart. You have to have a keen eye to find such treasures nestled within all the market outcasts in such stores.

THIS YARN-WRAPPED wire tree has been a meditation of both love and loss for me. The tedious task of upcycling an existing paper-wrapped tree by over-wrapping all of its branches in thin pale pink cotton yarn was time well-spent in reflection. Valentine-themed ornaments are tied to this tree with the same yarn wrapping its branches—branches which were used originally in my blog post entitled White Christmas. 

CARDINAL RED | This hand-blown glass bird ornament could represent one of the showiest of winter birds, the cardinal. Interestingly enough, this brightly-colored bird is always the male of the species. The glass birds were gift from a friend and part of a multi-colored set (the smoke grey glass bird is also on the tree) and are distributed by Roost Home Furnishings.

I DROPPED Devin at the airport with his one-way ticket to New York City on February 2nd. He left his job and most of his belongings here in Atlanta and headed to the Big Apple—as dreamers do—with big plans and a heart full of hope. My heart follows him there. The direction from here is still undetermined, and the tugging will continue until we both have both tested the tension and find the point at which the tightropes into our futures might coincide in tandem again.

EARLY LIGHT | This photo of Devin (left) and I was taken just before we left for the airport on February 2nd, 2013, when he left for New York City.

LIFE IS at once, exciting and heartbreaking—up in the air, as they say. Going out onto a limb is the only way to find yourself in the life you have imagined. I wish Devin all the luck in the world on this journey he must take. It has spurred me to gain the momentum again to live my dreams and find a place where my work is rewarding—by doing what I do best. The sun is shining in both of our faces. But, the physical distance between us casts a long shadow for now. It isn't ever an easy journey to set off into the unknown.

SWEETS FOR THE SWEET | A metal pedestal from Star Provisions is topped with a paper doily and decadently piled high with delicately-flavored Turkish delight in rose and lemon, a 17th century recipe manufactured by Hacizade.

IT WAS ONLY seven years ago that Valentine's Day ushered great sorrow, when my then 33-year-old nephew, Alan died on February 14, 2006. So Valentine's Day—as it will continually be for the rest of my life—is a day of love and sadness combined together and mixed into an emotional stew. It's certainly not easy to swallow, but gives great sustenance, nevertheless.

GERMAN BEAUTY | The most finely-crafted old world ornaments are still made in their German birthplace. A fine example is the company Oberfrankishe Glas which made this beautiful hand-glittered heart ornament in Germany.

TRUER WORDS have been never been written than those that poets write. The following phrase from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam:27, 1850 applies more than ever with with the pull and tug of the present, the gentle nudges of my memory and a tenuous tightrope directed toward the future. Connections of the heart are all firmly tied to those we love dearly. Only for lack of words, do we call them heart strings. But they are more than that.

I hold it true, whate'er befall; 

I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

A VALENTINE card is the most personal and poetic way to express your love for someone. It might be the most important component of a Valentine gift. Valentine's Day is certainly one of the most card-centered holidays of all. If your not crafty or designer-ly enough to make your own, buying a handmade card crafted in the capable hands of a graphic designer/crafts-person, is in order. Your love is certainly not mass-produced and impersonal, so why should the big card companies get all the love? Here are two examples—one custom-designed and another handmade. I designed this valentine (inset, above) at my computer, printed it and gave to Devin the night before he left for NYC. The beautiful stitched card (below) is handmade by another designer friend, Maya Metz Logue.

FOR LOVE | (Inset photo, above right) I designed this card to give to Devin for his send off to New York, as homage to the famous LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana. HEART STRING VALENTINE | (Above) Maya Metz Logue makes handmade cards that are hand-cut and tied with embroidery thread. She is an art director, graphic designer and illustrator living in Birmingham, Alabama. Her individually handmade cards like this Valentine card, can be bought on her Etsy site by clicking on this link.

©2013 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

collecting, photography and styling by Darryl Moland
handmade card by MAYA METZ LOGUE

looking forward

THE YEAR 2012 has been a year of transition, which always uncovers something new. Also, what is seemingly old can be renewed with a fresh perspective. A lot of exciting things (along with the bad, of course) have happened this year, both personally and with the world at large. That's what the New Year's celebration is always about—looking back at where you have been, while looking forward to where you are going. It's necessary to gain perspective from what we have lived through to move forward with any new endeavors we dare to dream.

THIS "TREE" is composed from my snow globe collection is arranged on a galvanized three-tiered stand, trimmed in white crepe paper and dusted with faux snow. It embodies time and memory. I related my feelings about the resonance of the miniature worlds of snow globes in a previous post in January 2011 titled "Frozen Memories," which you can read here. Ancient druids believed that woodland spirits hid themselves in holly branches to wait out the harshness of winter, so I've included them as a forward-looking talisman for a sunny and warm new year.

ON A BROAD SCALE, a great way to recap the year's events is to look at what people have searched for. Google's Zeitgeist 2012 video does just that. Watch it (embedded below). More on Google's "most searched" can be found at this link.  This inspiring video compiles the things people are looking for under broad inspirational themes in relation to the events of 2012. The word "zeitgeist" actually means "spirit of the age/time." I'm also using these themes as a way to relate the significance of the snow globes that decorate this "tree."

LOOKING FOR FIRSTS | This tree snow globe represents acknowledgement—surrounded by curious fauna. A personal first for me this year in a career of working as a designer in publishing, is actually being the subject matter of something that was published. Matthew Mead generously granted an eight-page feature about my blog and book in his Holiday/Christmas magazine available here. And Ben Ashby published a two-page excerpt of my book in FOLK, his magazine celebrating the made-in-America movement, which is available here. Blurb.com honored my book by selecting it as a staff pick! My book published through Blurb.com is available here. All this can only mean I'm gaining momentum with my pursuits (I have a scheduled surprise coming in the spring of 2013 that I'll reveal later). Now that I have some attention beyond the blogosphere, I hope to find a way to make my passions a way of life, rather than it being a sideline. Of course I give a lot of credit to my friends, blog followers and buyers of my book who have supported me along the way with their encouragement and inspiration.

LOOKING FOR RELIEF | Aren't we all? This polar bear snow globe represents a planet in distress. When the polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate, it's time to change course in the way we live. The biggest relief for me this year was when Barack Obama won his second term as president and was forced to address this issue because of Hurricane Sandy—the October Surprise in this year's election. The palpable effect of climate change is evident in bigger and badder ways than ever before. We are finally being forced to recognize that our way of living needs to change, not the climate. We're realizing that a more biocentric way of life includes keeping the diversity in the natural world intact. Sustaining Mother Nature will, in turn, sustain us, as it always has. It's a beautiful cycle not to be tampered with.
 

LOOKING FOR A CHOICE | The owl snow globe is a warning message. The right choices are always informed by the proper balance between the intuitive and the cognitive. We live in a world where information is at our fingertips like never before. We should be smarter for it, rather than misinformed. Our attention spans need to somehow lengthen again, now that we realize the end of the Mayan calendar wasn't the end, but rather, a new beginning. The Mayans considered the white owl a powerful messenger from the spirit world. This animal spirit warns us that a world out of balance is life out of balance. The white owl is a guardian that allows us to see clearly beyond fear and illusion. Taking time to slow down and ask the important questions will surely be one result of this.

LOOKING FOR CHANGE | The white rabbit snow globe is an invitation to step out of ordinary time. Seeing a white rabbit has long been an indicator of the possibility of spiritual enlightenment and/or an encounter with the Divine. As Alice in Wonderland experienced, a white rabbit can call us away from our ordinary life to go on an extraordinary journey. This will lead us to a transformational experience. It is an invitation to enter into the realm of the hidden, intuitive, unconscious world that coexists with what appears to be reality. A white rabbit in our path is a metaphorical invitation to remain awake and alert to new directions, sometimes releasing what we once thought was important.
 

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL |  This silver tree snow globe is a symbol of finding the special qualities in everything you encounter, no matter how barren it may seem. My favorite way to gain this perspective is to allow myself some time to be completely immersed in Nature. In our lives in cities away from large expanses of sparsely populated land, the stars in the sky are mostly obliterated from sight by the ambient light of civilization. This past November, Devin and I had a week's worth of time to explore the beaches and land around Tulum, Mexico. One night we took the time to lie on the beach and look up at the stars. We were both amazed at the magnificent sight above us in this sparsly populated area. Looking into the depth of this unobscured night sky had a humbling effect. We both got a clear message of the love the universe has in store for us.

LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION |  This Christmas Tree snow globe represents inspiration. Childhood Christmas trees from my childhood informed the creation of this blog. And I am constantly looking for new ways to create magic with The Decorated Tree. I invite you to continue on my journey with me in celebrating the seasons and I hope the new year is filled with joyous discovery in everything for which we search. Here's to a happy, prosperous and forward-looking 2013! 

©2012 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

collecting, photography and styling by Darryl Moland