Dear Ones,

ARC EN CIEL is French for rainbow, literally, an arch in the sky.

I’m thrilled that Marie-Ange Fultier titled this book of little sonic flower portraits, ARC EN CIEL!

To me, and I believe many others, a rainbow inspires feelings of joy, wonder, love of the beauty of the natural world, feelings of awe, refreshment, hope, encouragement and a sense of the mystery of the beauty of creation of which we are all live interdependently.

I adore flowers. To me, they are expressions of love eternal - and to many that is how the rainbow is seen. Many in history and now view the rainbow as divine symbols - I certainly see everything in the organic world as the art of creation - the great mystery.

Composing flowers - creating anything - cooking painting, is for me an act of worship, more or less on some level. I find great joy and pleasure in flowers, in the garden. I find great awe and wonder with how this creation on earth is so fragile, tenacious, strong, interconnected, beautiful and so multi faceted. Theme and variation. EARTH - WHAT a creation and you know - to see a rainbow in the sky - that just “knocks it out of the ball park” kind of like flowers.

No wonder flowers are gifts to the ill. They inspire an invitation of get well. They comfort the grieving in their fragrance and beauty.

I think of every individual human being like a flower - like a rainbow - rare, beautiful and fleeting.
I tried to honor that in each little sonic portrait.

Too often I fear, we humans feel it necessary to do do do, be this, be more, be XYZ… can’t we just be ourselves? As sublime and beautiful as a flower in a garden? Isn’t to BE tremendous? To BE. These flowers are about relishing the beauty of creation, about honoring the divine, sublime importance of BEING and allowing ourselves to be beautiful and fragrant and blooming magnificently where we are - and being HOW we are naturally. If you are an Echinacea for example - be an Echinacea! Don’t try to be any other flower - that’s the job of the other flower!

Of course - only YOU know how to be YOU.

I really hope people feel encouraged to “dance to one’s own drummer” so to speak.

So, I chose ECHINACEA for Cheryl Tuttle because she is a beautiful, powerful and vibrant woman with strong healing abilities - like an Echinacea and inspires feelings of hope, uplift, and encouragement in her countenance. This flower also blooms around her birthday! So there’s that.

It’s an upbeat cheerful looking flower to my eyes with nice varied textures and bold color. It’s known for strengthening the immune system, medicinally. It adds nice POP to the world.

So I represented that sonically with ascending motifs, staccato and a mix of triplet and duple rhythm. 2/4 gives it spunk and chromatics help the color be bright. It’s good natured and I hope whomever studies this brief portrait will enjoy it.

It’s a straight forward piece - perfect for sight reading and adding as a flower to make a bouquet along with other flowers in this series.

SKYPE lessons avaialbe for this and all music I compose and made available.

Best wishes,
Kathryn J. Potter (K.J.P.)