Like a tree

"The season of green," 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 watercolor, 140 lb.

While much of the country is drowned in drought, we're in the midst of the season of green.

Abundant rainfall and cool weather has filled streams and rivers, ponds and lakes.

Though summer is not here yet to remind me of a favorite song, "The Green Leaves of Summer," I find peace in the abundant foliage on bushes, undergrowth, and especially trees.

Reminds me of the words of the prophet and poet in the Old Testament

"...like a tree planted by water," --Jeremiah 17:8

"...like a tree planted by streams of water," --Psalm 1:3

Seems like a call for today's little play-time watercolor.

The lure of islands

"Peaceful Reflections," 5 x 7 watercolor, 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press

 
When you see an island, what is the reaction?

Probably, a question, a lure, to somehow get there and find what is on it, to explore, discover.

Why?

I think of Hemingway's Islands in the Stream, or Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers'  song, by the same title. Then there is William James' quote about we being islands in the sea separate on the surface but connected deep, along with John Donne's poem, "No Man is an Island."

Don't forget Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, spending the nights on an island in the Mississippi River so they could hide. Or Robert Graves canoeing down the Brazos in Goodbye to a River, camping on one overnight. And, do we not all dream of the magic islands of the South Pacific or getting away to a secluded beach in the Caribbean?

Those thoughts came to me yesterday, walking in Martin Park, seeing this little island in the middle of the lake. 

Thus today's little watercolor. It's been a long month of little creative activity for me, and that walk and this island, brought peace and an urge. It's a little rough but what I felt viewing it. Part of an island's lure.

After the rain

"After the Rain," 8 x 10 watercolor, 140 lb Fabriano Artistico rough press paper

When it rains on the Great Plains, you can see it coming, hear and feel it when it hits, and smell it as the clouds recede across the far horizons, leaving the landscape soaked.

The storms usually build in the afternoon and evenings, when the atmosphere and light and color is most dramatic.

On the plains in Oklahoma and Texas and elsewhere, except when the weather turns violent, rain is always welcome. Clouds on the horizon bring hope and action to a sometimes monotonous landscape. 

Today's watercolor comes from a memory of those times, and a study in complementary colors.

Drama on the caprock

"Dawn on the Caprock," 5 x 7 watercolor, 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press

When you drive across the Texas panhandle the sweeping horizons of the Llano Estacado may seem flat, but there is always drama, either in the skies or in the changing landscapes.

Especially in the morning or evening when you approach the caprock  and canyons from any direction, there is beauty and a sense of space, a sense of being alone.

The word "caprock" describes a geological feature of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico at the edge of the plains. You have to live in out there to really know the word and what it means, a caliche cap on underlying the Llano. The same feature shows up along the canyons and gullies throughout those plains. To me, they're always inspiring, something I hope to capture the essence of. Beauty and variety in a landscape many ignore.

Today's little watercolor is a study for a larger painting, I hope. I've been struggling with composition on this one, after several pencil value sketches that have constantly changed. I am not sure I'm there yet, but a small study gives me freedom and ideas for possibilities.

Favorite tree

 

If I have a favorite tree, it is the cottonwood.

No, I don't have to put up with its cottonwood in the springtime, or the allergies, but to me, it bespeaks the color and abundance of water in New Mexico.

My favorite, tree, which I've tried to paint many times, is at the corner of Alameda and Paseo de Peralta, in Santa Fe.

So to, pushing and hoping for the muse, here is my Cottonwood series... 5 x 7 watercolors. 

Spring, early fall at its most brilliant, before the snow falls, and in January plus a painting of my favorite tree.

https://clarkcoffee.blogspot.com/2016/12/tree-rings-el-alamo-viejo.html