This watercolor will be in a June show called Re-birth at Gallery Lev Shalem in Woodstock.
I’ve been painting the ancestors of these poppies for decades. They burst forth in a fiery magnificence at the end of May and each time they appear I respond as if I’d never seen a poppy before. Struck by their fragile loveliness and powerful color, a burning desire to paint them wells up in me. I hurry to bring out watercolors, brushes and paper. Sometimes the paintings come out quite good and sometimes they aren’t good at all. It doesn’t matter. It’s all about that rush of joy I get when I sit before them and record their image. The poppies don’t last long but I know I’ll see them again.
