Change is constant

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"The only constant in life is change." - Heraclitus

I was able to keep up the daily painting habit - and posting on Instagram - through our four days in New York recently. I couldn't do plein air as the rest of the family was with me [and would have gone on their phones - a pet peeve], and I would have felt the pressure of finishing, as if there aren't other kinds of pressures already.
This quote about life applies to many different things: feelings and emotions which come and go, and if you pay attention, you will be aware of how fleeting they are - in type, in intensity. Maybe you might feel sad for a long time and think it isn't changing, but the intensity is fluctuating constantly. It IS changing. It applies to sensations in the body, as I learned during Vipassana, and the key is to observe the changing sensations and acknowledge that they are changing - old ones are going, and new ones are coming - constantly. Of course, the body sensations are what give rise to feelings and emotions, not the other way around as we normally believe.
In a very roundabout way, what I am trying to say is that a constant change in a watercolor painting is important to keep the eye moving to the next area of interest. Large fields of no change - like a perfectly laid down constant wash - is boring. Changes of color, value, even texture as I am beginning to understand (watermarks - such an exciting new world I am exploring right now), speckles, drips, muddles - are all so exciting to the eye.
Here is the first painting I did in New York - from a picture I took from the taxi that was taking us to our hotel. My little travel kit was a success - compact and very portable, with 2 brushes and a pencil neatly rolled up in an erstwhile bamboo sushi-making mat.


"Reflections in New York" - March 30, 2019

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