red dragons

I continue to return to what I've dubbed my Saturday Patio on a frequent basis, sometimes taking others to marvel at the hidden oasis that is Hillwood. On my last visit, I packed into a sling a small empty bottle, a plastic cup, several paint brushes, a box of watercolors, and a pad of paper. I dipped that cup into the pond in the Japanese garden, ascended the stairs to my patio, transferred half of the water to the bottle, and settled down to paint under a cloudy sky though the day was quite warm. Before I made the first stroke, the memory of sitting poolside in Ouarzazate, Morocco with my watercolors suddenly brought to mind the freedom of painting without expectation or judgment allowing the strokes to land as I felt them. I thought about the class I had taken at a Buddhist temple in NYC...dip the brush, drop it to paper, drag it freely across without lifting...as I rolled my wet brush in red paint to begin.

That same morning I had read the following:

Between the moon coming out
And the sun going in -
The red dragon-flies. - Nikyu

The person who penned those lines was referring to the insect; I read it as a red dragon flying across a sky at dusk. I have to say that this passage was in mind as I moved from drop and drag to drop and swirl to quick light strokes.

Free to interpretation is the heart of a finished creation. Stepping away once completed, I saw more than the red dragon. What do you see?

Indeed there is more to find between the strokes if you...

keep your peepers open! ®