Character Neighborhood – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

“Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”

–Emily Dickinson

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Character Neighborhood – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

Yes…. That house really was pink.  It was even brighter, but I toned it down.  (HA! Me…. toning down?   It’s rare, but it happened.)

I really loved these houses.  When I was little, I remember my grandpa having a front yard like that.  It’s a neat memory.  I imagine, when they were built, they were quite fancy, but have been forgotten, in favor of those huge homes we see these days.  I found these cute houses with Google street view.  They are in Kansas City.

Emily Dickenson

In 1830, Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. She attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, but severe homesickness led her to return home after one year. Throughout her life, she seldom left her house and visitors were scarce. The people with whom she did come in contact, however, had an enormous impact on her thoughts and poetry. She was particularly stirred by the Reverend Charles Wadsworth, whom she met on a trip to Philadelphia. He left for the West Coast shortly after a visit to her home in 1860, and some critics believe his departure gave rise to the heartsick flow of verse from Dickinson in the years that followed. While it is certain that he was an important figure in her life, it is not certain that this was in the capacity of romantic love—she called him “my closest earthly friend.” Other possibilities for the unrequited love in Dickinson’s poems include Otis P. Lord, a Massachusetts Supreme Court Judge, and Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican.   More…