Bopcia and Watercolos
My Bobcia, my Polish grandmother, painted in oils and acrylics primarily (see other art and painting and sculpture Hubs), but occasionally she worked in watercolors on thick textured paper. Decades later, I vividly remember the feel of the sheets of watercolor paper -- some absorbed a little, some absorbed a lot, creating different effects when the water colors were applied.
Wanda's watercolors ran the gamut of styles, some were precise and detailed landscape drawings, some were softer and blurrier landscapes, and some were entirely abstract in composition. But all of them reflect her interests and her penchant for unusual color combinations.
Bobcia is no longer with us. It has been seven years since my father and I sat by her bedside and sang old Baptist hymns to her. She was a lifelong and dedicated Catholic, but loved music of any kind. By then she had ceased speaking at all and no longer responded when spoken to. But even though she did not open her eyes, or indicate that she knew we were there, we knew her spirit heard the music and knew our hearts with her.
Any artistic inclination I have came by way of her. One of her oil paintings adorns the cover of my first book of poetry. I miss her still.