Heartline

Heartline

5" X 7"

Watercolor & Ink

Our town has a river running through it. And, although we are not “townies”, living well outside its boundaries, we love and claim that river as ours it just the same. I’ve always loved rivers, streams, creeks, and cricks (as my mama would say). 

I could sit alongside any variation of moving water and just abide listening to its song for hours. I always wished I could live along a watercourse, but until I win the lotto, I’m happy to seek its companionship whenever I can; because when I’m in town for work, it’s just a little more than a stone’s throw away, calling out to me, some days louder than others. 

Though I take great joy in “river sitting”, it’s also the place I go when my heart hurts, or when life’s trials get to be a little more than I can bear. Our Animas has her moods too, and now approaches the time when she returns to blue green as the snowmelt wanes and the summer is well on. I think my favorite time is winter: when snow clouds gather, she is charcoal, but when the sky is clear, a deep blue black, dotted with rocks like bones, lit white with snow.

The day I painted this, I thought about how our river is the heart of our community, steadily reflecting this part of the world.

Unbounded Spring

And now, time for something completely different.

Unbounded Spring

5” X 7”

Watercolor and Ink on Paper

It’s been a while since I’ve painted abstracts. Yet it has been on my mind, one of those art swirls that slowly coalesce and then erupt in a frenzy of work. This is watercolor and ink—a technique I’ve used in the past, but not in this exact way. 

The technique was inspired an artist many years ago who came into our 4^th grade class to share her art. I was intrigued by the way she filled her paintings with lines and shapes. That was a long time ago, but suddenly the idea resurfaced again.

This piece was inspired by our amazing spring brought on by a wet winter. Even the old-timers say it was the most beautiful they remember. How appropriate that the summer monsoons have arrived and it is raining as I write this post…let the green continue!

Spring Inside

Spring Inside

8" X 10"
Watercolor on Paper

It was a long winter. Not complaining—it was beautiful and we needed the moisture. The gift it brought was the most lovely spring I’ve seen—everything incredibly lush and green, wildflowers everywhere. Every plant, every tree took in a big gulp and let out a sigh of relief.

In late winter, before the earth erupted in green, our dining room held a folding table jam-packed with our optimistic veggie starts. We dreamed of the garden bounty they would bring. Nestled among the tomatoes and peppers, was this delightful geranium bursting into bloom.

Early in the year, I started teaching watercolor classes. This painting began as a demonstration to show my students various watercolor techniques (wet into wet, wet over dry, washes, and layering). The blooms lasted and lasted, giving me a chance to finish the painting as it declared spring was on its way.

The garden starts didn’t fare as well. We had a killing frost two-thirds of the way through June that took out good part of the garden plants I’d lovingly planted the week before. That’s Mother Nature, though. You never know what she’s going to throw at you.