Watercolor: Asleep at the Wheel

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Asleep at the Wheel 11×4 Watercolor on paper

Available in my Etsy shop.
I’ve been hanging around a lot of my friends’ dogs these days. It’s good to get some canine-love in every week, and I have a weak spot for the leaners out there; the dogs that lean into you when you start giving them some love. This watercolor is based on a cell phone shot of one of my favorite leaners, while she was snoozing on her big round bed.

Art Quote

Some years ago Whistler showed a visitor several heads of Italian children, each about 10 or 12, by 16 or 18 inches in size. With them was a three-quarter length of one of the children. They were all superb bits of portraiture, and akin to the Little Rose of Lyme Regis – in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The visitor was eager to get one or more of the pictures. After considerable pressure, he said :
“I think they ought to be worth six hundred guineas each; don’t you?”
“And the large one?” said the visitor.
“Oh, the same. That is no more important than the small.”
“Very well. May I have all four?”
“Dear me ! You don’t want them all?”
“If you will let me have them.”
” But…. ” and then the struggle began, “I must look them over; they are not quite finished.”
“But, surely, these two are finished.”
“Yes, I might let those go by-and-bye, but not now.”
“Will you send them to me ?”
“Yes, certainly, after I have gone over them again.”
“I will leave a check.”
“God bless me, no! You must not do that. It will be time enough to send a check after you receive the little pictures.”
Needless to say, the pictures were never received. They had just been finished, and he could not bring himself to part with them. It was not a matter of money at all — likely as not he sold them later for less — but it was always next to impossible to get him to part with recent work. If he happened to have on hand a picture five or ten years old, possibly, that could be bought and taken away, but anything in which he was interested at the time he would not let go. 


~Recollections and impressions of James A. McNeill Whistler by Jerome Eddy 1903

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11 thoughts on “Watercolor: Asleep at the Wheel”

  1. Lovely work, Belinda. I really love this size watercolor paper for your work. Such an interesting crop and composition. Very much enjoyed the Art Quote included with it – a lesson to be learned about letting go!

  2. @Dan, What a wonderfully sweet comment. I know we all get inundated with blogs we love to read, but don’t always have time for (I have my hand up). There’s so much inspiration out there to absorb! I really appreciate your taking the time to visit and look around, whether you leave a comment or not. I high five you in the virtual shadows, because I hang out in there too. 🙂

  3. @Julie, thanks so much for your compliment. I imagine many of us have stepped over this same sleep-scene in our homes, no? 🙂 Your work is wonderful… I especially love Dogwood & Porcelain.

  4. @Robyn, I know your love for dogs, and I’ve loved yours from afar as well. With a tail-wag, a lick, and a lean against your leg, they can transform a dull or sad moment into something miraculously sweet and uplifting.

  5. I have gotten so behind, and it definitely has been my loss. What beautiful work – all of it. This piece is great, I love all of your various printing projects (which somehow I believe to be even so much fun for you than for me as a mere viewer). And I am totally astounded and taken by your mixed media pieces (despite the mess). Although I am sometimes in the virtual shadows, know that you always have an admirer in me.

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