A month of happiness

Here they are, about 30 daily watercolors for this month, prompted by thoughts of happy things. Some good, some fair and few not so much. But lots of hours thinking, planning painting, writing, work...and learning. Missing are two that were granddaughters' birthday cards.

Rock of ages--sandstone

Sandstone at Jemez, 5 by 7 watercolor, 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press paper

Sandstone. In infinite  shapes and colors, it's a signature rock of the Southwest, telling stories of eons past and to come
It always draws the eye, captures the attention of a traveler, a photographer, an artist. Much of it is spiritual for the peoples who live nearby.
 When I see sandstone on the horizon, anywhere, I am happy...it's a rock of ages, home of the souls.
This is a study for a larger piece commissioned by a friend. Even trying to paint the orange red sandstone of Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico makes me happy. It's down mountain from the Valles Caldera, as a storm brews in the background.

(Thus is complete the #worldwatercolorgroup January paint happy things challenge.)

In October

 

Super Blue Moon mood

Mood Maker, 5 by 7 watercolor, 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press paper

Mood maker. Tonight and tomorrow morning will be a super blue moon that will turn almost red in pre-dawn light.
The moon's power  moves tides on the earth, in people and in wildlife, evoking memories, moods, romances and more throughout time.
It made me happy, just looking at it tonight, rising over rooftops, glittering white. As darkness fell, it illuminated the countryside. Had there been snow, it would have been even more dramatic.
This isn't the first time I've painted it, or written about it, and likely won't be the last.
It's my second watercolor today, after missing yesterday's daily challenge. One more to go for 31 in January.

(#worldwatercolorgroup January paint happy things challenge)

A few other paintings, articles:
Oklahoma Moonrise
December Moon
Misty Turquoise Moon

A taste of happiness

A taste of happiness, watercolor, 5 by 7, 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press paper

Oranges make me happy. Their look, their smell, their texture, their taste, their moisture. Even peeling them is an exercise in anticipation.
I take a couple of these little fellows with me when I go painting in the Current COOP Studio in Oklahoma City. They and an apple tided me over for lunch.
Yesterday was the first day in January I haven't painted something, so had to make that up today with two. This is the first, and it isn't great, certainly not as great as the oranges, but lessons are learned. 

(#Worldwatercolorgroup January paint happy things challenge.)

Delicious Colors of Happiness.

Delicious Colors, 4" x 5" watercolor, 140 lb. Fabriano cold press paper

They had me at "turquoise."
Cherry. Lemon. Turquoise.
Those were the words that were the prompt for the January paint happy things daily challenge today from #worldwatercolorgroup.
I've sorta been going my own way on painting happy things every day this month, but clicked on the @Doodlewash website today for ideas.
How could I resist? Turquoise is a sacred stone, and several shades of color for anyone growing up in New Mexico or the Southwest. Remember that my first painting this month was "Turquoise Dawn Happiness" 24 days ago.
So why not? Delicious. Colors of Happiness.

Stories in strata

Strata's Stories, 8 x 10 watercolor, 300 lb. d'Arches cold-press paper

Strata makes me happy. I love the Southwest and New Mexico where you can see so many relatively raw geologic land forms and the strata that compose them, rather than the softer landscapes molded by moisture and often hidden by vegetation.
Strata tells so many stories, indicates so much history and pre-history, prompts the imagination, reminds you of how brief our lives are against the span of eons of creation.  
The more strata, the more interesting the shapes, the older the landforms, and wider diversity of colors. 
What a metaphor for our lives. We all build up strata, and have it eroded, through the years, different levels and colors, molded by travels, experiences, locations, people, memories.
I've always been captivated, and been challenged by the great paintings of masters like Charlie Russell and others who often used this contrast of sunlight and shadow to make paintings jump off  the canvas. 
I wanted to experiment with the shapes and colors of day's end--an aging day against aging rocks--another metaphor indeed. Varied strata fascinates me, always catches my attention with its beauty, making me happy. First attempt.

(Daily #worldwatercolorgroup January paint happy things challenge.)

Mountain Time

Mountain Time, 8 x 10 watercolor, 300 lb. d'Arches cold press paper

Happy? What makes me happy? Mountains. Big skies. Autumn. Cabins. Woodsmoke.
You may leave the mountains, but they never leave you. Grow up in New Mexico, or the West...you just know.
On a gray day like today, or on any day for that matter, we need more color in our lives. Mountains do that for me, in my imagination, my memory, or in person. Mountain time.
Today's watercolor--makes you want to go there, doesn't it?

(Daily #watercolorgroup January paint happy things challenge)

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.

Back road happiness

"The road less traveled," 6 3/4 by 10 3/4 watercolor, 300 lb. d'Arches cold press paper

Back roads always call me...Frost's "the road less traveled." Little traffic. few people, the sounds of silence, time to  be alone and look and think and wonder what is around the next bend.
This scene comes from a photo I took a couple of years ago of  a gravel portion of a New Mexico state "highway" in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. It's the good part of the road--a little further on, around the bend in the distance, it became a two-rutted lane track through the mountains--I was thankful for my Subaru.
I've tried to paint this before, and this is only a quick study with lots of room for improvement, since Susan asked me to paint it. But I painted what I feel, not see, on roads like this. I do think there are things that can't be painted.
But back roads make me happy, thus today's painting, from a road-less-traveled kind of buy.

Daily #worldwatercolorgroup January paint happy things challenge.

Happiness is...

Youngest son Derrick and I today

I've heard it said that you can't depend on others to be happy, that it has to come from within, that it is not something to seek, but something deeper.
Perhaps, certainly not to seek, and a state of being. I don't know, as I'm not a philosopher. But I know this, that happiness does come from other people. I don't think whoever said your happiness shouldn't depend on other people was ever a parent.

As a grandparent, and a parent, much of my happiness

Barrett Clark

depends on how my children fare. I remember praying as a young parent that my children would have long lives and be happy. 
If they're happy, it affects me, and vice versa. And when I'm around them, both emotions can be infectious. I've been blessed this past week to hear five of the grandchildren run up to me saying, "Granddad!"
I'm blessed with healthy children and they're generally very happy. I depend on that, especially as I get older.

Liberty Clark

Derrick with Barrett and Liberty Clark at the science museum in OKC today