Colorful wildflower art inspired by childhood memories

“Dancing with Bluebonnets” can best be described as tribute, a memorial if you will, to Charles Calvert (Linda’s father) and a simpler time. This painting gets to the core of Linda’s artistic expression with her series of contemporary wildflowers. One of Linda’s earliest memories of wildflowers are of a field of bluebonnets that were kept intact by her father on the family farm south of San Antonio back in the early 1960s. Times were lean and with a growing family it seems amazing that valuable farm land lay fallow of income producing crops but as her father explained to Linda simply that he liked the bluebonnets that emerge each spring despite the fact that all his surrounding neighbors lacked an appreciation for these “weeds” running wild on perfectly good farmland. Mr. Calvert savored the beauty of nature’s colorful wildflower art but he was also allowing nature to improve the land naturally at the same time. Whether he knew this at the time we will never know.

We do know now that Texas bluebonnets, as a part of the legume family, have the ability to capture nitrogen from the air and store it in its root nodules making it available in the soil for later use. In simple terms, bluebonnets increase over time the fertility of the land in grows upon and is one of nature's many tricks to replenishing nutrients to a poor soil. Beautification and soil conservation all in one plant the bluebonnet truly deserves it elevated status as the Texas state flower.

This early memory of Linda’s speaks of the aesthetic value her father placed on one of nature’s “beautiful weeds” long before Lady Bird Johnson focused her attention to our Texas highways in 1969. These soil conservation and beautification projects have been on going ever since and have taken on a life of their own. We owe a debt of gratitude to these two people. Lady Bird Johnson’s legacy grows all around us each year. The legacy of Charles Calvert lives on though his daughter’s wildflower art. Thank you Lady Bird and thank you Charles Calvert for each of you have and will continue to bring joy to people the world over for many years to come.

Note: This is another entry by David (Linda's husband).