It seems like fall is a time of last chances. These might be my last roses of the year and the last chance to paint them so I couldn’t resist, even though they’re a bit stunted and scrawny. The lovely Indian summer we’re having in California has that feel of Last Chance too. Under the warm gusts of Santa Ana winds I can detect the hint of coming chill. Each peach I’ve eaten in the past month has come with the thought, “This is probably the last peach I’ll have this year.”
There’s a feeling of sweet longing and sadness that fall brings. Artist Dee Farnsworth painted the Last of the Summer Corn last month and I saw that same sense of loneliness and loss in her painting. I’m trying not to grasp after summer, resist fall or regret the coming winter. I know acceptance of what IS allows me to live in the present moment and enjoy it. I try to remember that each day is the last chance to experience that day. It will never come again.
Sorry to sound melancholic. I’m actually happy (despite the changing of the season, the terrible news in the world, a tweaked back, and losing every cent I’ve saved this year in the stock market) because my dear neighbor fixed the light over my easel today and now I can paint in good light again. Yippee!
About the painting:
I drew with my long neglected Lami Safari pen, forgetting that the Noodlers Ink isn’t completely waterproof. It seemed even less so on Arches hot press paper, smudging like crazy and then melting and bleeding into the watercolor. I do like the effect here though, the way it creates a softer line than my usual Micron Pigma pens.
Jana Bouc, Artist 
18 replies on “Last Chances: October Roses in Watercolor”
Jana, I applaud you for pushing forward in these melancholy and trying days. Days like today I feel as though I too am fading along with the roses. Thanks for helping me remember to keep focused and in the present.
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Nice job on this. Love it!
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Well, whatever went wrong, it isn’t showing up on my monitor. This is lovely, and I enjoyed reading your post as I sit here on a balmy October afternoon, wondering how long this delightful weather will last!
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Lovely and so rich with both feeling and color.
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As I read this, rain drips from the roof onto the parched garden and we relish the cool change…spring here is so brief!
My “Apricot Nectar” rose flung its petals out,then drooped before I could even grab the camera, but I’ll paint the next one!
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What a delightful painting – the pleasure of the flowers plus the pleasure of the paint intself.
w.
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I love this painting. I love to study it. Beautiful. jc
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This is lovely, and the effects of the ink are excellent. They make the label look like another kind of flower in the boquest. I especially like the glass. As here, your containers are usually quite distinctive, with personality of their own. Oddly, I find myself thinking of the process of making a glass jar, as compared to the process of making a flower.
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Dear Jana – a lovely painting! I especially love the intense colour in it – exactly that kind of intensity nature is coming up with in this time of the year although you might see different colours than these deep greens now. But nevertheless it describes this last feast of colours very well.
Currently I try to grab these colours as much as possible in the leaves that are still holding on, the fruit and vegetables you can see everywhere with their intense colours – such as the pumpkins in my photography. Please check out my photoblog if you like under
http://vyalaarts.wordpress.com
Yes – and I can understand fully your motivation and emotion about this all…
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Beautiful roses, Jana. Your right about autumn being tinged with melancholy. I’ve been looking at fall related poetry lately, and that vein of sadness runs through most of them. It isn’t that fall is sad, but that it signals the end of summer.
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A lovely painting Jana…carrying a nice touch of nostalgia in the colours, even the shadow on your left taking over sort of from the gaiety on the right, the drooping leaves…wonderful atmosphere, I love it,
ronell
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I agree with everyone, Jana. A delightful painting that is full of atmosphere and autumn and nostalgia. I especially like the water soluble ink flowing into the colors.
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I’ve got to tell you, your painting is beautiful. The color combinations are great. I like the idea of using the bottle as a vase.
Well done! Nice job and keep it up!
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Not sure how I missed this one at the time, but it’s beautiful, Jana. There’s a fragility to the lines which reflects the transience of the subject.
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Your blog is the first one I’ve ever enjoyed. Now there are others too…but I never thought I’d like a blog until I found yours. When I look at this picture all I can think is, “lovely”.
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GORGEOUS. gorgeous.
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Gorgeous vase and floral painting. So lively in color, and delicate in line. Beautiful. If you artist gals get together again in the Bay Area…give me a heads up (joanie@balsamicmoon.com) if you want to enlarge the party. Love to come and “play ART” with you.
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Thanks Joanie. Where do you live? Maybe we could get together ourselves, even without out of towners! Jana
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