Exploring a New Watercolor Book - and a Poem

I usually plan my trips to the local library around my fiction reading, but a couple days ago I browsed the new arrival shelves and found one that looked interesting. The title is Exploring Textures in Watercolor, by Joye Moon. It is published by North Light books.

Moon lives in Wisconsin and I've seen her name in area workshops, though I have never taken one. This 5x7 inch watercolor is the result of my doing the first exercise in her book, which has to do with basic skills and techniques. I thought I might do some small watercolor Christmas cards for friends, and this is a scene I probably could do quickly.

The book has 14 chapters and is nicely indexed. Some of the chapter titles include the following:

Discovering the basics

Exploring geometric shapes and color theory

Turning a negative into a positive

Pouring your heart out

Capturing sparkling white

Painting the garden

Painting people

Collage painting

I enjoy looking at her demonstrations, and I hope to do a few in the next couple weeks. It hasn't snowed much here yet, but I thought I'd share another poem from my desk calendar, one that imagines an early December snowstorm.

December 1

by Ronnie Hess in the 2009 Wisconsin Poets Calendar

The mail carrier has delivered

The season's first snowstorm

Pulling the tempest out of a bag

Slung across his shoulder:

Wet circulars and post cards

Iced holiday greeting cards.

This drab gray afternoon

He looks vaguely familiar:

The red face the beard

The big black galoshes

The baggy pants

The white postal truck

Isling at the corner

Ready to take flight.