Week five

The image I decided to use for my stencil is a simple lotus flower. The lotus flower is my favorite type of flower because I love to swim and so anything aquatic has always interested me. The water lily and the lotus are often confused from one another since both flowers are found in water. An interesting fact about lotus flowers is that they can live for an incredibly long time. A seed from a lotus was recently germinated, the progress of a seed to grow into the plant, and shown to be roughly 1,300 years old. I first saw a lotus flower while on a museum trip to the Huntington Library three years ago. The flower was so beautiful and pink gracefully floating on the water that I began to grow an interest in this type of aquatic flower that I had never seen before. The flower is native to Asian countries, Australia, and Egypt. The meaning of the flower varies through different religions. In the Hindu religion, the flower represents beauty and fertility. In Buddhism, the flower means rebirth and purity of the mind, body, and spirit. For me, the flower represents peace of mind and spiritual cleansing. I am a swimmer, I have been swimming ever since I was four, and so whenever I go into water I feel a peace of mind and a cleansing energy occur.