Vision-Night Intersection

Night Intersection
8" x 12"
watercolors
"What's that in the sky?" I asked anxiously.
"Where?" My sister was concentrating on driving in traffic on an unfamiliar street.
"Over those trees on the right. " I pointed, not thinking that she couldn't very well look to where I was pointing while she drove, and not to mention not being able to see anything in the dark.
It looked like a UFO to me. But, could it be the moon, with some sort of strange thing happening with the light?
It was dark early that night, and we got caught in the dark. I had traveled these streets for years, but, now, since I didn't drive, they seemed almost unfamiliar. I could spot some landmarks like familiar buildings, but there weren't any really tall ones in this area. Reading signs was impossible, unless the car stopped and I could look at the sign up close.
It was a relief to spot a familiar intersection with a parking lot on the left. I recognized the balls of fireworks above the parking lot as the strong lights in the parking lot. Rectangles that appeared over a line of what looked like stars, were actually lights of a pharmacy that I used, on the other side of the intersection. The stars were headlights of cars approaching the intersection from the south. Red stars in front of me and to the right were tail lights of cars in our lane, and cars on the north side of the intersection. I could see a little dark green of the grass that divided the street from the sidewalk beside me. A faint light reflected on the woods that had been left on the right side of the intersection. A bit of light shone from a parking lot for some apartments beyond the trees.
Above the intersection, brilliant red, and yellow lights blazed, with washed out green below. I could see a bit of the pipe that held the lights near the pharmacy.
My heart raced a little with excitement at the sight of the strange object in the sky. Maybe it was a helicopter. We moved, but it didn't.
There was a dot of light in the center, surrounded by other dots of light and spokes as you might see on an outer space movie of a space station.
I watched the light all the way to my house, trying to ignore the security lights that appeared as bursts of fireworks. Inside the house, after my sister left, I pulled back the curtains. I summoned my grandson.
"What's that light out there? Can you see it?" I asked, still feeling a little excitement at that strange sight.
"It's a star," he announced and went back to his game on the computer.
"Oh," I said as I closed the curtain. More shapes and designs instead of seeing things as they really are. It was beginning to be annoying, but I told myself that they might make some interesting pictures.
Lights, up close, such as the ones in my yard, or in the same room, looked fine. It was just those that were in the distance that were giving me problems and a show.

Vision-Night Lights

Night Lights 8.5" x 11 " Acrylic on watercolor paper

Today's painting is a composite of various lights as I see them outside at night.

The big starbursts are each actually a single light. One radiated cool light with blues and soft yellow, the other gave off a warm light with reds, yellows, and oranges.

In the upper right, there appears to be three circular shapes. That is the way I see the moon- as three overlapping moons.

The red hooks in the lower left hand corner are tail lights of a car in front of us as I was riding in a car.

The remaining shapes are security lights as I see them from my back door. These are in neighboring yards. The swash of orange is the glow of lights from Texas A&M.

Blinking didn't make them change, and they still look this way months later. The question still nagged at me-did I need glasses, or was it cataracts that would require surgery and a lot of money.

I used acrylics on 140 pound watercolor paper to do "Night Lights". To make the tiny marks in the burtst of light, I used a toothpick. The rest is brushwork.

It is more natural for me to work very large, but I had a block of watercolor paper that I had been wanting to use for a while, so I used that for most of my paintings in this series. I feel restricted and tight when I work small. As I work, I get tighter and tighter, which is actually more tiring and not as satisfying.

For me, if I start with a large piece of paper, or canvas, with a large chunk of compressed charcoal or a big brush, I can work large and free, and, as I work, my work gets even larger and more free. I could fill a wall easily, and gain a lot of energy at the same time. Part of that could be because I am working with a different area of my brain, allowing the tired part to rest. It does help things like headaches and tensio-for me, at least.

But, I often use a clipboard that has a storage space beneath the surface, to carry around with me and sketch as I have time. That works out better than sketchbooks, I have found, because my paper doesn't get bent or worn, and I also have room for my pencils, pens, eraser, and sharpener. I used that clipboard when I was teaching and continue to use it today. A tote bag, with my purse, a travel set of watercolors and a film container for water, and I am in business, ready to entertain myself anywhere.

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