'For Vincent'

He painted with that blue. The particular blue of bachelor buttons — deep cobalt, almost purple in shadow, almost electric in full light — is the blue Van Gogh returned to again and again. *Starry Night*. *Irises*. The blue that means the sky is alive, that the world is in motion, that you can see the current in things if you look long enough.

Yellow yarrow holds the center, gold against the blue. Hemlock brings structure and shadow, the dark stems that keep the composition from floating away. Deutzia leaves carry the green that prevents the blue from burning too intensely. The whole piece moves — the botanicals sway, which is not an illusion. It is what they decided to do while settling, and it was allowed to stay.

This piece is for Vincent, who saw the world this way first and spent his life trying to show us.

This pendant is for the woman who has always seen the movement in things other people see as still.