23 Replies to “Wisdom”

  3. inkpaintwords – A feminist writer and artist with a penchant for all things French, living in Washington DC. My love of language led me, indirectly, to my pleasure in gardening, drawing and watercolor. It began with a book, a collection of New Yorker garden columns by Katherine White, wife of its founding editor E.B.White. Her enthusiastic appraisal of the literary merit of various garden catalogs led me to collect and keep her favorites as well as to hoard with them some more recently-emerged seed, bulb and seed catalogs. The beautiful catalogs inspired me to little by little turn our entire front lawn (our home had a wooded ravine close behind) into a garden. That grew into a lovely site with two simple arches, a gliding bench on a little sitting patio and modest slate paths winding through beds of shade lovers and whatever plants supposedly in need of full sun that I could manage to coax into colorful healthy bloom. A curiosity about color and color theory emerged as I became keenly interested in impressionist painters; that interest merged in some way with my urge to garden. I acquired more than one book about Monet’s garden and gardens of other impressionist painters, both French and American. One day I picked up a magazine for painters, and found inside an article about a painter I’d known. Among examples of her splendid watercolor paintings was her watercolor of her garden at that time. Suddenly I could think of nothing more exciting than painting my garden. I enrolled in her watercolor class in The Art League in Alexandria, VA. The influence that the collection of Katherine White’s columns about the literary merits of certain garden catalogs has had on my life has come full now. Ink, Paint & Words combines what has become an obsession with drawing and watercolor with my passion for language. Yes, I still garden. A table full of blooming potted plants sits on my apartment patio, backed by an ivy covered fence with park trees behind. My patio, and my larger environment of Washington DC, together provides wonderful vistas for drawing and painting. For a number of years annual trips to France gave me and my companions extravagantly colorful panoramas and charming tableaux for brush and pen. And yes, now I’ve painted in Monet’s gardens several times. But that, as they say, is another story.
    inkpaintwords says:

    I love gnarled roots, and often stop to look closely at the moss and other tiny plants growing “between their toes.”

    Reply
  4. Gretchen Del Rio – Crestline, California, USA – I first discovered the magic of water based colors when many years ago I began to paint with procion dyes on silk. I loved the unexpected quality of the process. It was so exciting to never be sure what the colors and water would combine to produce. It seemed as though the medium had its own passion. Painting with watercolors and paper is much the same. I love the color combinations and separations that occur spontaneously as the color floats on the water. You can never totally predict what effect will result. If you try to control the medium too much, your painting will be very tight losing its aliveness. The artist must be bold and decisive or the work will not be clear and fresh. It is really like a dance. It becomes a controlled folly in knowing when to let go and when to take charge of the direction that the painting is taking. The images that I paint reflect my emotions and are expression of my life experience. They are not extensively planned, but rather evolve as the painting progresses. I am always surprised by the end result since it comes into being because of what the medium and emotion has suggested. The paintings are from my heart and I always fall in love with the subject. I believe that we are all connected and, if an image touches you, it is because we all have the same heart even though our paths may be different. Most of all, painting what I paint makes me happy. The paintings are my own path unfolding. They are an opening door for me and contain my own passion for life.
    Gretchen Del Rio says:

    There are so many faces in the tree. Great capture.

    Reply
  5. heavenhappens – Welcome to my life. You can share my grown up world here at http://heavenhappens.me where I blog my thoughts, my life, my travels, my photographs and my poetry. Growing up just after the war was a grim experience. So, now that I have 7 grandchildren, I am reclaiming my childhood by seeing the world anew through their eyes. Every minute I spend with them is magical. So this blog is for them ~ Ben, Rosie, Tiffany, Stanley, Thea, Mateo, and the youngest, Olivia! I hope, when they are all grown up, they will enjoy reading it and finding out about their grandma’s life, and know how very happy they made her. I hope you enjoy reading my posts, leave a comment or a link and I will get back to you. I’m sorry to say that my darling husband died of Covid on Good Friday 2020. Since then the wind has gone out of my sails and I’ve hardly written a thing. I will try to pick up my life and start writing again one day. But for now please enjoy exploring my life🕊️
    heavenhappens says:

    Beautiful x

    Reply
  6. beebeesworld – I have a degree in public history research. I love writing, photography, cooking, teaching, nature studies. I'm a mom and grandmom, an "old hippie".
    beebeesworld says:

    interesting…beebee

    Reply
  7. Stacy – I am a native New Orleanian, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a middle-grade author, and a GenXer. Pop on over and say hey! Toodles!
    Stacy Lyn says:

    Thank you for visiting my blog. I see you and I think alike, so I hope you don’t mind if I stop by from time to time. M3

    Reply
  11. Tomaz – São Paulo, Brazil – I am a photo enthusiast. With no formal training and lots of books I try to get away with it! I also like cycling, skiing, swimming, nature, art, architecture, design, technology, traveling and beautiful things.
    Tomaz says:

    I love you lines of poetry! I wish I could write meaningful stuff like you o to express some more than what my pictures do!

    Reply

  13. Always listen to the trees – they are of wise sages of our lives. Thank you for poetry and visions.

    Reply
  16. projectbuddy – Tidewater, Virginia – I'm just an average guy, trying to sort out the hundreds of projects that go into restoring a home built in 1920. For fun I enjoy taking in a baseball game or playing board games with a best buddy.
    Seat12 says:

    This is one of my favorite of all your posts.

    Reply
  20. simon7banks – Harwich, UK – I write poems and stories, often mystical or fantastical. I believe very strongly that poetry is an art of the spoken word, so the sound of the words is important: so please say my poems aloud, if only in your head. I live in the U.K., in Harwich, Essex, but have worked in Kenya and Finland, and travelled to many other places. This is my literary blog. I'm also a Liberal Democrat political activist, birder, long-distance trail walker, real ale drinker and Quaker.
    simon7banks says:

    Fantastic picture and thought.

    Reply

  23. Thank you for visiting my blog. Your photography and poetry are beautiful.

    Reply

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