Blog entry

Every Flower is a Soul - Artisan Handmade and Vintage

Here in the Desert Southwest, you can feel that spring is not far off.  The days are getting longer, the winds are a bit windier, and, with the recent rains, the mountains and the desert have a lovely tinge of green.  The first swallows of the season are soaring and dipping through the arroyo that butts up against out back yard.  Other bird migrants will soon be here - yay!  I can almost feel the flowers stirring, flowers of all types will soon make their much anticipated appearance before the heat sets in.

Think Red for Artisan Christmas Gifts - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

The color combination of red and green is closely associated with Christmas - for example, Santa’s red clothing and green holly with red berries.  But how did this come about?  From ancient history to modern time, color has been an integral part of cultural awareness and even an understanding of life; it touched all members of society and conveyed deeper messages (such as, only royalty could wear the color purple).  Red and green as Christian symbolism can be traced back to Medieval Miracle Plays and rood screen painters.  The color combination can be traced to the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh stories from the 13th century.  And these stories were probably based on an oral tradition that dates back to the pre-Christian Celts many centuries before where a half-red, half-green tree figures prominently in one of the tales.  In pre-Christian times, red and green represented male (red) and female (green), strength and harmony, desire and fertility.