whorl

A bird looks like an abstract whorl until you catch it at a particular angle; a man barely emerges from his stone, the cross on his neck just visible.

In the early morning, the east-facing yard is alive with butterflies and bees, dancing over electric-purple whorls of celestial blue sage and sunny Palmer’s Indian mallow growing over the fence.

She also got an up-close look at the delicate purple whorls on the outside of exterior of the snails’ shells.

Representations of the religious teacher started out as nearly abstract symbols a few thousand years ago — a starburst shape inside a spiraling whorl, for example, which configures an emanation of light within an eternal flow.

Its deep crimson color and complex bloom — a crowded whorl of ruffled petals that coalesce in the center to form a heart — add an element of visual intrigue.