Starting a water color painting is like beginning a relationship.
At first, little is familiar but for the simple attraction.
What follows is a portrayal in watercolor, of seeing, feeling, hearing, touching, imagining this bird over a period of shifting time. Some of what I draw is real; some is not. Over time as I work with this painting, my perspective changes, colors shift, the focus drifts, speculation occurs on what actually matters. Details that are not noticed, at first, suddenly matter. My imagination takes over for a while as I freely add my own personal perspectives on what I see or imagine about this bird and its location.
Eventually, tired of details, I am relaxed by the big picture and remember perspectives, one after the other, left and right, upside down, viewed through a larger kaleidoscope of ideas, shapes, colors.
Then comes the longer-lasting part, the part when we say goodbye. This painting may be given as a gift, or sold to an interested person, photographed and shared with a wider audience, or even put aside, leaving me wondering if there is something more that I should do with it, be with it.
Good friends of all kinds must eventually leave, move on, go to new places, change environments. Life is nothing but change. What remains are things remembered, lost thoughts regretted, happy memories jumping up and cheering from time to time.
A picture is truly a thousand words. And words are thousands of pictures.
Bye bye, birdie. It was real nice knowing you. I hope you like your new home.
marysgardens 
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