"When dawn spreads its paintbrush on the plain, spilling purple... ," Sons of the Pioneers theme for TV show "Wagon Train." Dawn on the mythic Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, looking toward Raton from Cimarron. -- Clarkphoto. A curmudgeon artist's musings melding metaphors and journalism, for readers in more than 150 countries.

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Drought dreams

"Drought Dreams," 11 x 14 watercolor, 140 lb. d'Arches cold press paper

The
clouds are building here again, in the humidity and heat. We've been getting more rain than usual this year, but August is near and our greens may turn brown if the heat settles in.

For the folks in the Pacific Northwest, and in much of the West, the country is literally burning up, from extensive drought and high temperatures and wildfires leading to deaths and economic collapse.

Given what's happening around the world, in flooding Europe and other weather disasters, happening all at once, earth may have already passed the tipping point toward irreversible warming. Anyone who doubts the climate is changing is ignoring the evidence and science.

What spurred this watercolor was not those negative thoughts, though they followed as I dreamed of towering clouds. My recent trip to New Mexico confirmed the extra high temperatures and burnt dry landscape for me. The eastern Texas panhandle was green, but then past Amarillo, the land turned brown--everywhere.

Having lived out there, and in rural Oklahoma, where  weather determines livelihood, I know how welcome thunderheads are.

So this watercolor, the first in a long while, was inspired by the building clouds that always catch my attention. See, rain brings more than green, it waters ideas and creativity too.


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