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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

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Pink, Pink, Pink. I’m Taking a Stand — I Like It

May 7, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Detail of "Pretty in Pink" by Valerie Lee and Robin Lee,  J. Miller Flowers, Oakland. Photo by Barbara Newhall
Detail of “Pretty in Pink” by Valerie Lee and Robin Lee, J. Miller Flowers, Oakland. Photo by Barbara Newhall

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Valerie Lee and Robin Lee let themselves go soft on pink this spring. The occasion was the annual Tulip Exhibition at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, and their design, “Pretty in Pink,” was just that — an unabashedly sweet concoction that stood in contrast to some nearby edgier, darker takes on the tulip.

Susan Bell of Alameda, for instance, paired sweet-smelling lilacs with not-so-sweet, nearly black tulip blossoms. And Agnes Kang of the Piedmont Garden Club dared an arrangement that spilled louche, orange-spangled flowers from an out-sized martini glass.

Fearlessly Pink

The fearlessly sentimental Lees stuck to their guns and to their color choice. They presented the world with a bouquet of tulips in varying shades of pink, which were set off by tones of — equally demure — green.

I’m going to take a stand here. I like pink. I’m all for putting more pink (and maybe a little less edge) out into the world. And so . . . voila!

More tulips at “A Cemetery Comes to Life — With Tulips.”  You might also enjoy, “A Case of the Human Condition: Feminine, Feminist Pink.” More about my new book at WrestlingWithGodBook.com.

Detail 2 of "Pretty in Pink" by Valerie Lee and Robin Lee,  J. Miller Flowers, Oakland. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Detail 4 of "Pretty in Pink" by Valerie Lee and Robin Lee,  J. Miller Flowers, Oakland. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Detail 5 of "Pretty in Pink" by Valerie Lee and Robin Lee,  J. Miller Flowers, Oakland. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Detail 3 of "Pretty in Pink" by Valerie Lee and Robin Lee, J. Miller Flowers, Oakland. Photo by Barbara Newhall
Photos by Barbara Newhall
Floral design with nearly black tulips by Susan Bell Floral, Alameda, Susan Bell, "Spring Sprung"  Photo by Barbara Newhall
Susan Bell’s near-black tulips. (My trusty point-and-shoot insisted on lightening them to mauve.)
"Happy Hour." a floral design for the Mountain View Cemetery 2015 Tulip Exhibition, Oakland, California. Design by Agnes Kang of the Piedmont Garden Club. Photo by Barbara Newhall
Tipsy “Happy Hour” by Agnes Kang of the Piedmont Garden Club.
pink tulip bouquet by Valerie Lee and Robin LeesPhoto by Barbara Newhall
Lotsa pink from Valerie Lee and Robin Lee. Photo by Barbara Newhall

 

Filed Under: A Case of the Human Condition

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