Sunrise, sunset, swiftly flow the years...

Sunrise, Sunset, 5 x 7 #watercolor card

I don't know any song that moves me more than "Sunrise, Sunset," from Fiddler on the Roof, as a father sings about his children growing older.

This is the time of year it seems to hit even closer to home, as a year nears its end, and another is just over the horizon.

Every day is a journey...'tis a time of nostalgia, of memories, of hopes for the future...footprints in snow soon to be gone.

Southwestern sunset, watercolor

Southwestern Sunset, watercolor, 6" by 11.5", 140 lb. d'Arches 

Inspiration, like love, comes you seek it, when you work, most of all, I think, when you need.

Today's watercolor, the first of the month after July's daily challenge, comes on a rainy day, when I knew I needed to paint, for me. After a week of "vacation"--minimal writing, no blogging, no painting, but drinking in love and family and landscapes on a 2,500 mile road trip, it was time. 

Inspiration is internal. I find it many places, including the broad vistas of my beloved Southwest of rich colors and dry air, in travels, in love, and from my father.

I'd found this old pencil sketch of my Dad's, Terrence Miller Clark, done no telling how many years ago, of something he saw in his road trip travels. He saw beauty everywhere, and he could capture that beauty, in landscape, in portraits, with a talent that stuns me. I'm thankful I have a smidgen of his spirit and soul. 

This one's for you, Dad. Thanks. May we one day paint together again.

Pencil sketch, 3" by 9.5"--Terrence Miller Clark

Oklahoma Sunset challenge--watercolor

"Oklahoma Sunset, watercolor, 5 by 7, 300 Lb. d'Arches

"Sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years...."

                        --Fiddler on the Roof, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock

 One of the most moving, and saddest, songs I know of as a father is "Sunrise, Sunset," about daughters, and sons, growing older. It is haunting and always brings tears, tears mixed with joy.
I thought about that this morning after painting "Oklahoma Sunrise" yesterday, part of the WorldWatercolorMonth daily challenge
So again, the metaphorical aging shack at the end of another day, companion piece for yesterday. 
Sunrise, Sunset.

 

Reflecting--Eastern Oklahoma sunset and cabin

 

Reflections, 14 by 21 watercolor, 300 pound paper

Dreams of solitude and quietude away from traffic. Largest painting in a long time. 
Commission completed, once framed. Thankful for the challenge.
It's time to get away. 

Detail

 

Oklahoma Sunset

A first attempt, very fast, wet into wet, somewhat sloppy, 9 by 12 study for a larger commission for  a favorite former student.

Sunset journey

Missing my canoe...5 1/2" by 11" watercolor, 140 # d'Arches

Heading for shore at the end of day. 
The water is still, the birds roosting, the branches and leaves still without a breath of breeze. 
The brilliant, varied colors of a setting autumn sun. 
Alone in a canoe, the only sound the dip of the paddle and the faint, brief gurgle of the wake. 
Life.

Sunset--Western skies

Rush hour lights--Edmond

"Out here there's the sky," wrote Willa Cather. Yep!

The sunset of a year in watercolor, and more

Sunset on Dec. 31--9 1/2" by 12" watercolor, 140 pound paper

The sun sets on another calendar year, and we try to dwell on the future, calling it New Year's Eve, which is fine and shows the hope in our species. But at the moment, I choose to think about where I've been, where this blog has been in 2013. I wanted to capture that in a watercolor, never even thinking about New Year's Day, 2014,  until I sat down to write this.
Paraphrasing Dickens, it has been the best of times and the worst of times, depending on where and who you were in this country and world. Fortunately for us, and ours, in spite of tragedies, of politics, of violence, and of wars, I can look back thankfully, but be thoughtful of those who cannot. 
In this year, I've traveled new miles and places, met new friends and people, lived new adventures and thoughts, found new stories and life. The sun setting on those experiences seems to mean there will be more of them when the sun rises tomorrow.  
This will be the last 2013 post, 39th this month and 252nd this year, on Coffee with Clark. It's been  a reader-record-setting year, with more than 45,000 page views from readers in 228 countries. Thanks for reading. Tomorrow, my bucket list.

Sunset, watercolor

9 by 12, 140 pound d'Arches paper

Great Plains sunset

Great Plains sunset, watercolor, 90# paper, 9" by 12"

I love the land of the big sky and wide open spaces.