Poetry in watercolor

I've been thinking a lot about a watercolor one of my students did in class on Monday. She sketched a scene from New Mexico, where she had taken a vacation not so long ago. The subject was Pedernal Mountain, the iconic peak painted by Georgia O'Keeffe. The student worked from memory, with no reference photos in sight. I was astonished at her painting at the end of class. In my opinion it was the best she has ever done: transparent washes, luminous color, spontaneous, and fresh. In a word, poetic. To me the painting illustrates what artists can do when they trust their intuition instead of laboring over details in a photograph. What's in your mind's eye?

Dove & O'Keeffe not to be missed

This blog at ColourLovers on the Circles of Influence show in Williamstown, MA, at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute shows some of the great paintings from the show. My son gave me the the catalog to add to my collection. The show continues through September 7. The museum itself is worth a trip, but what a delight it would be to see this show.