In college I had a design professor who often told us of elaborate watercolor painting he’d create by a river of a French countryside. Each stroke soft yet thoughtful, painting impressions of the landscape with beautiful abandon. At the end of each session, once the painting was complete, he’d gently slide it into the river and watched as the flowing waters reclaimed the liquid strokes as one of their own, the hours, even days of work dissipating into nothingness as it floated away. For him it was an exercise in letting go and not being afraid to start all over again.

I think of that story now as I contemplate my own love of watercolor. At once a romantic wisp of color and a graphic show of mixing and bleeding colors, watercolors are my favorite of mediums. By their very nature they are untamed and organic, yielding “happy accidents” all about the canvas. I love their range of semi-opaque to opaque hues with colors over lapping in layers that create new colors. Their applications are endless; a fabric, a painting, a kite, a postcard, a rug, a brooch, a pillow, a wallpaper, a tea towel and so the list goes on…

They are a beautiful marriage of manmade and natural.

To say I have an artistic crush on this liquid chroma is something of an understatement. Please enjoy some watercolor lovelies I’ve assembled…