Tillandsias, Twice …

A shipment of Etsy-purveyed tillandsias meets elements collected from neighbors’ sales, to create two very different still lifes …

SUBMARINA

 A placid underwater scene plays off the tillandsia’s natural resemblance to sea anemones and other underwater creatures and plants. Less oceanic, but providing fitting backup, are a burnt piece of wood salvaged from a chicken coop, a huge rusted plowing disc, a stalagmite chunk, a pitted lava rock,  a bottle embedded in cement from a demolished wall in Topanga Canyon and two Japanese fish-shaped metal ashtrays from an estate sale. Who knew when we bought the Rancho we were moving into a neighborhood that harbored such treasures?

DISSIMILARITY

A rhythmic still life is composed of small implements, as well as fragments from larger ones. Tillandsias here provide organic, colorful contrast against the hardness of the machined metal shapes. Helping to take the edge off their differences is the oxidized state of the metal bits; their rusty decay a softener. All of these metal pieces came from a neighbor’s amazing collection of items only she — and I — seem to find beautiful. Living literally a few steps from us, she allows me to root freely through the masses of things she’s saved from the trash heap, regaling me with the history of each.

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I love where we live for a variety of reasons; the good will of our neighbors a large part of that enjoyment. That we’ve got good neighbors with good junk who’re willing to share is purely good fortune!

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To order your own tillandsias, visit Etsy shop, PlantOddities.