Wednesday WrapUp Flowers of the Mind

Wednesday WrapUp

November is a hectic month for me– a poem a day plus writing 1667 words every day for NaNoWriMo. [for more information see my post: I Write]. I also attempt to draw and paint for the novel. Today, I share the novel, the poem, and the art that fits with November’s writing, art, and poetry project.

Daily Note

Every day, a photograph, a poem. These lovely, light-veined leaves fill our garden, vining through in and out around the house. I love them because they are evergreen, blooming in the spring in this white and blue-purple five-petaled flowers. They are periwinkle, or more aptly, Joy on the Ground.

According to folklore, they offer protection from harmful spirits, restore lost memories, encourage harmony, and banish negative energy. Supposedly, in days gone by, they aided for relief of boils, toothache, and nosebleeds. Too much is poisonous.

Periwinkle folklore fits in with my story for  NaNoWriMo. Here’s some folklore information that might help your story as well.

• Magical Plant Folklore
• Merry Periwinkle
• Garden Periwinkle

My NaNoWriMo

So these evergreen vines seem to be popping up in my story this year, as part of the folklore and magical, mystical ways of the people in my story world. As of yesterday, I’d written 12,360 words, or about 25% of my 50,000 word goal for November. Usually, I’m farther around, but with the new dog, I’m taking it slowly, writing at least 1,667 words every day, the least amount for finishing on November 30th.

As for my story, it starts in the middle of the end of last year’s story. And the periwinkle is new to the story because it’s part of the change in the character Olivia, who’s been under the spell of a darkness or shadow spirit most of her life. Angie and Willow have guided her out, but now, with two lost children, Olivia seems be key to finding them.

Fortunately, she has friends and family members who will keep her on track. And that’s where the periwinkle enters the story. Here are a few excerpts:

• Marigold, mother of Juniper, wife of Joseph, part of Olivia’s family, enters the room:

excerpt:

Smiling, and only a bit nervous, she opened the door to join the girls. Her mouth dropped. She wasn’t sure if Jade and Jasmine knew what had happened. The girls seemed to be laughing and playing cards as usual. But the table, the girls, and the “Joy on the Ground” embroidered rug were all elevated about twelve inches above the floor, with a band around the bottom of braided red and black, where Juniper’s mind was casually holding them up. She thought, “I’ve never known a “holder” before— some one who can hold and move things.”

So Say We, Sheri Edwards

• Willow, Olivia’s friend, putting the pieces together…

excerpt:

Willow studied it a minute and then flicked open Olivia’s latest journal where she mentioned picking dried nettles, rosemary, junegrass, and a blue and white flowered vine. Drawing a line back towards the river along the seldom used path Olivia had found, she discovered the spot where Olivia had picked her plants. Highlighting the botany map, she found the plant, “Joy on the Ground.”

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “It vines all the way along this path through the cornflowers here, at the spot crossing Olivia’s white and bold blue path. White fairy, joy on the ground, cornflowers, and danger.

So Say We, Sheri Edwards

NaNoWriMo Art

I’m also working on periwinkle art patterns. It will take a while to finish. Here is the outline sketch I drew and the first of painting in the colors. I sketched these in Procreate and am painting with a texture brush. My goal is to vectorize each layer of color and transfer the elements into Affinity Designer for more versatility in scaling the pattern for different purposes. That’s the part that takes time, transferring a pixel element into a vectorized element and then into the vector app. That’s my goal, but I may just use Procreate for the first pattern making. We’ll see. The important thing is that it represents my garden, my favorite colors, and the story for this year.

And, of course, the poem….

Poetry

Flowers of the Mind

Pairs of leaves,
veined light,
Flowers,
blue and white:
Joy on the Ground
weaves low
through the gardens
in vines
of harmony and grace,
a protection evergreen,
elders say,
of memories and mind.

Sheri Edwards
11.08.23 312.365.23
Poetry/Photography
Joy on the Ground [Periwinkle] in my garden
NaNoWriMo

#clmooc #smallpoems #poetry23 #joyontheground #periwinkle #folklore #NaNoWriMo #NaNoWriMo23 #novemberdoodle #warmup4art