A walk in the woods

"A walk in the woods," 5 1/2 by 7 watercolor, 300 lb. d'Arches cold press paper

Trees. Woods. Forests. Havens for  life and thought and creativity. For being happy.
I walked yesterday in Hafer Park, savoring the sunshine and a relatively mild day before another cold front hits. I don't wear ear phones, but just walk, enjoying the sounds of birds and wildlife in the underbrush of this "urban forest" that is adjacent to our subdivision.
There is also peace there, watching parents with children, adults   and lovers walking and talking, a few joggers, people walking their dogs, the ducks and geese.
It's a happy place in all seasons, even now with the bare branches. I have a favorite tree and especially enjoy watching the trees in various stages of life and death, and by the time I've completed just over a mile and walked back home, my blood pressure has dropped, and I'm happy.
Trees. No trees, no life on earth. But they are more than just engines of oxygen. A walk in the woods is also an engine of creativity.
Although I'd watched a video yesterday of another artist painting trees, I sat here in Current Coop Studio stumped (forgive the pun), without an idea of what to paint for today's happy challenge from WorldWatercolorGroup.com happy challenge.
Ray Bradbury writes that everything that happens to you is compost, and from all that compost, this painting came to life.

Compost and watercolor journeys--part III

Alone

These are the most irregularly sized paintings. I notice that they're all about journeys alone or with partners, telling stories with unfinished conclusions, something increasingly on my mind, growing out of the compost of years and experiments in painting. 
The top one, painted a year ago,  is the largest, and wouldn't fit on the scanner at almost 6" by 14", so a little of the left side is cropped off.

Autumn of the years

The man with the dog is the largest and  close to standard size, a little bigger than 5" by 7". Notice a similar one at 5" by 5", both inspired by a man with a cane I saw walking in Hafer Park last year, once with a dog. 
Partners in travel become increasingly more important and "Sunday Communion" at about 5" by 7" and "Down the Beach" at 4" by 4 1/2" reflect that mood. 
Finally, the blurry background  of "Soul Mates"  is another experiment in impressionism about 5" by 8", and  the blurred foreground of "Homestead" at about 4" by 7"but then, the entire future is blurry
Irregular sizes and subjects that I all hope to get framed if I can find approximate sizes. An artists' journey. 

Alone

Sunday Communion

Down the Beach

Soul Mates

Homestead

Artist's compost--Seeking small frames -- I

Gate to High Lonesome, the largest of these random watercolors at 8 1/2" by 9"

My "compost" file

Many of my paintings are smaller, and of random sizes on left over paper from bigger paintings. Usually, they're experiments, and never framed. Many are rejects, with flaws. But I rarely throw them away, as they suggest something I'd like to do again someday in a larger format.

That produces quite a portfolio of work--large and small--that I keep in a rack in the closet and from time to time I go though it, cleaning it out, discarding the worse work and reorganizing. It also serves as almost a compost pile as an inspiration to pick up the brushes again. They also mark how much more looser I work, and thus better, when I'm piddling, rather than "painting." Such were the two small paintings of Redbuds in the previous post.
Most recently I noticed several small works that I think should be framed. I'm looking for some small read-made frames  for some of these--relatively cheap ones. It's harder since most of these paintings don't fit standard sizes. In other words, these would be nice small works whenever I get back into a gallery.

Cottonwood--about 4 1/2" square

Tree in Paseo, about 7" by 8"