Sunflower Greetings

When I first heard Thomas Moore’s “Believe me, if all those endearing young charms” at the age of 14, I was struck by the last lines: “As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets / The same look which she turned when he rose.”  Those lines made the sunflower into a symbol of loyalty for me, a notion that has stayed with me ever since. I identify with the sunflowers, for their loyalty if not for their beauty — sometimes I can be loyal to a fault.

Sunflowers and The Tree

And sure enough, year after year the sunflowers come up. Toward the end of summer, whether on the famous farm in Griswold, Connecticut, or here in the cornfield outside New Paltz, New York, or in so many other places, the sunflowers smile and wave at you as you walk or drive by and sometimes serve, as in the image above, as a guard of honor for this venerable tree.

Smiling Sunflower

Praying Sunflower

These are new images, taken within the last two weeks, to add to my sunflower collection. I hope you enjoy them. And please, think of Thomas Moore’s wonderful poem.

Some thoughtful neighbor has planted lots of sunflowers outside his home across the street from the Cottage Place Gallery in Ridgewood, New Jersey, where my first major solo show is now hanging. (No sunflower images, but there is one of a lighthouse.)  The reception is Sunday, September 14, 2 to 5 pm, at 113 Cottage Place. If you’re in the neighborhood, please stop in to say hello.

To purchase any of the sunflower pictures, or just to see how they look larger and in different formats, please click on each image and you’ll be whisked straight to my site.