A Flower Bouquet

"Flower Bouquet"
Watercolor

Today a friend and I painted together at her kitchen table. A beautiful flower arrangement captured my attention and I proceeded to paint its essence. "Did you draw this first?" my friend asked me. I said well I drew it with a brush and paint. Then she said "I like how you took what you saw and painted it in your own way". Well, I suppose she didn't say that in those exact words, but I did capture a few flowers from the bouquet that called to me and put them wherever I wanted to on paper. Usually, about this time the brush seems to have a mind of its own and I just let it dance with the paint. I'm told this is called artistic license. I call it freedom.
We were chatting, amongst a million other things, about painting outdoors in the summer with plein air groups, which I have done in the past. These groups go outside in nature and paint what they see right then and there. I told her how difficult it is for me on these outings to find a subject to paint. I tend to be dazzled by my surroundings and take it in all its beauty and time flies by. Many plein air painters who go on these outings seem dedicated and find their spot and begin painting almost immediately. I told her I sometimes feel out of sorts and even anxious because of my lack of focus. Usually with about a half hour or so of painting time left, the pressure finally hits me. I pick a subject and usually (hastily) get something, anything down on paper.

I am telling this story to set the stage for what happened next. I sat there at that table and proceeded to paint almost nonstop the painting shown above. Mind you, there were a number of distractions that proceeded to occur that afternoon. But I tuned them out for the most part and finished the painting, more or less, in a flowing manner. And my friend laughingly teased me, saying that it looked like I was pretty focused, just like those plein air artists I was talking about. Hm, I thought, maybe I had changed, maybe I was more dedicated than I had perceived myself as being.

It was a fun afternoon painting, drinking tea and getting to know my friend better. It's so nice to have friends who get you and accept you, isn't it? I share this bouquet of flowers with all my friends out there, thank you for your love and support!