Blue Haven

This morning we have heavy rain. Instead of my heart sinking I am thrilled because all of the new plants in the garden need moisture. I am really thankful that someone else has taken over the responsibility of keeping them all alive. I will paint in my studio and from all around me I have a million subjects to choose from today.

I often think about wild flowers. How they grow naturally year after year without anyone caring for them. They survive summer droughts and long cold winters. Year after year they multiply and give spectacular shows. Without any human intervention.

And yet keen gardeners can give  too much attention. Pulling out beautiful seedlings by mistaking them for weeds. Or they can often over water or forget to water enough.

Nature is a miracle when you come to think about it. A true mother caring for her charges. Creating colour throughout the seasons in a way that is not designed. Just natural and free with no restrictions on what is right or wrong. Plants just grow where they want to grow.

I have just described how I work in watercolour. Freely allowing the pigments to  flow into each other minus restrictions enjoying all that can happen as if by a miracle.

"Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings."