Monday, September 20, 2021

Millefiore


Needing a break from rendering
the brush and pen
fall into repeated circles
free of thought
resulting in
barnacles of millefiore.

A pause for abstraction instead of the usual detailed rendering - another page of the watercolor sketchbook.

Friday, September 17, 2021

Monarchs

No froufrou butterflies
this lineage of regal Monarchs,
who suffered two apocalyptic winters
in the 1990's.

Completely absent from the garden
for twenty-nine years
until
sailing over the continent
they arrived again
to dominate the Buddleia. 

Nothing is fragile or helpless about these Monarchs. They soar - not so much as fly. Breeze nor gale is an obstacle to them as they make use of the movements of air to reach their destination.

Another watercolor sketch in the artist's notebook.


Saturday, September 11, 2021

Angel's Trumpets and Blue Birdbath


Remembering those who never made it home
on September 11th
twenty years ago,
we miss you,
we miss you,
we miss you.

Let the Angel's Trumpets sound
while we rest our reflections in a still pool of blue.

Painted while listening to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings played by the New York Philharmonic and lead by Leonard Bernstein

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Homemade Cheese


 An olive wood platter 
loaded with cheeses made by the artist:
pepper coated Belper Knolle
and hard grating cheeses
finished with olive oil
or cabernet sauvignon.

This is yet another page in my watercolor sketchbook, celebrating a month of successful cheesemaking.

Friday, September 3, 2021

Volunteer Tomatoes


The garden is full of volunteer tomato plants
everything from deep red to bright yellow
beefsteak to cherry tomatoes,
sweet and full of flavor.
Practicing a little daily care,
the plants have defied disease and pests,
providing an extraordinary
surge of fruit this year.

This is watercolor number nine, another page in the new 5" x 7" sketchbook that was started this past June.