Alhambra

Transparent watercolor on 12 x 15 Arches paper for Lots of Landscapes

A Painting not a Person

"No one will know or even care what the subject 'really' looked like. Your painting must speak for itself. Art is separate from reality and actually has little to do with it. Matisse once told an outraged patron who complained that her portrait was not a good likeness, 'Madame, this is not a person, this is a painting.' "

--Inessa Derkatsch, from her book, Transparent Watercolor: Painting Methods and Materials.

Float House

Transparent watercolor on 12 x 15 Arches paper for Lots of Landscapes from chartan's source photo at www.flickr.com/photos/chartan/59 25466054/

Endless Sky and Sea

Transparent watercolor on 12 x 15 Arches from my trip to Florida

Tribute to the "never say die" St. Louis Cardinal Baseball Team Transparent Watercolor on 12 x 15 Arches

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou

The free bird leaps

on the back of the wind

and floats downstream

till the current ends

and dips his wings

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings

with fearful trill

of the things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill for the caged bird

sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn

and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom. 

North Lake Union

Transparent watercolor on 12 x 16 Canson paper from source photo atwww.flickr.com/photos/fuzzyimagearts/5458179679/ for Lots of Landscapes