Obsessed With Watercolour

“How do you know but ev’ry Bird that cuts the airy way,
Is an immense world of delight, clos’d by your senses five?”
― William Blake

With in all my landscapes I strive to reveal a deep spiritual connection. I tap into a vitality of the natural world and also our place in it. Although I paint quickly it is to capture the flow of a divine physical world. With such natural beauty all around us there can be no doubt of the presents of God.

For me watercolour is a spiritually uplifting and enriching experience. These images I painted while visiting my mom in the hospital. She has made a miraculous recovery and I am very grateful to God that this blessing of more time has been given to us.

I have a number of birds and I have come to realize that many animals are truly full of the holy spirit. These images are about a deep connection that exists between nature, art and faith.

I have been wanting to paint my pets for years and finally had a little spare time. These watercolours are “keepers” that I will frame and hang up. Anyone wanting a pet portrait please feel free to connect with me — I am open to working on commissions.

This is my bearded dragon. His name is Mr Wackman — my parrot named him. I was bathing him one day and Boo-Boo called out to the lizard “come on Mr. Wackman!” The name stuck.

I have been wanting to paint my pets for years and finally had a little spare time. These watercolours are “keepers” that I will frame and hang up. Anyone wanting a pet portrait please feel free to connect with me — I am open to working on commissions.

This is my Ringneck. His name is Boo-boo and I consider him my son. We are in-separable.

ABSTRACT ART

“Beauty and virtue are found in the impermanent, imperfect, and incomplete.”
- based on “The Art of Letting Things Happen” (wabi-sabi)

These abstract paintings are all about the flow of water. According to Bruce Lee by embodying the qualities of water, we can adjust to any environment and overcome any obstacle.

My work represents the ability to flourish despite an environment full of hate, misery and bitterness. These obstacles to joy can be overcome with flexibility and adaptability, just as water can flow and crash, carving valleys in mountains and erode any boulders in its path and fill any object and take on any shape.

The translucent quality of the paint adds depth and luminosity to the artwork. I play with the amount of water used, creating a range of effects from soft and ethereal to bold and vibrant. The lush colours blend and flow together on the paper, creating beautiful and unpredictable patterns which, like nature, seems to grow organically and spread with a force of its own.

FLOWERS

“Perfection of Imperfection”
based on “The Art of Letting Things Happen” (wabi-sabi)

In this work the delicate and intricate nature of flowers represents the connection with both nature and also my dad who was a master gardener.

I strive for realism and accuracy in representing the intricate details of petals, stems, and leaves. This approach requires precision and attention to detail — focusing on capturing the exact colours, shapes, and textures of each flower. However, I prioritize expressiveness and artistic interpretation, using loose brushstrokes, vibrant colours, and creative compositions to convey a dreamlike mood.

My approach allows for freedom, creativity and realism to coexist. Finding a balance in art seems to represent the reflection of a similar balance in life as well.

LANDSCAPE

“Nothing Lasts”
“Nothing is Finished”
“And Nothing is Perfect”
- based on “The Art of Letting Things Happen” (wabi-sabi)

I strive to create a flow with the oneness of nature that connects to all things. In imperfection I hope to depict the perfection of the natural world.

These landscapes, plants and flowers reflect an enchantment with both subject and media. The artwork is a backdrop to an interior world of complexity that I depict with simple shapes and colours.

All my watercolours are based on Bruce Lees idea (and Taoist philosophy) of water as a basis for adaptability and flow. The theme simply to embrace change just as nature adapts, so too does the artist who paints and develops a vision with watercolour. This work is about being able to flow with the roughness of obstacles, to face adversity with resilience.

NEW SERIES OF ARTWORKS

Spontaneously capturing nature with watercolor is, first and foremost, about WATER.

Bruce Lee said it best:

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Each watercolour painting was created in my sketchbook. The work is both fluid artwork that directly comes from nature and a part of the larger series within the sketchbook. It is a reflection of freedom and improvisation. Each work is a meditation on the unpredictable nature of existence and the positive surprises that can result.