Bicycles in the Bahamas – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be.”
– Groucho Marx

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Bicycles in the Bahamas – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

I love that quote!  I also loved the photo I painted this from.  It’s another one from Lisilk  at WetCanvas.   Li takes the most incredible photos!

About Groucho Marx

Julius Henry “Groucho” Marx was the wisecracking central figure of the Marx Brothers comedy team, waggling his eyebrows in movies like Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera. He was born in New York in 1890. His mother organized the family into a vaudeville act, which didn’t become successful until Groucho began ad-libbing jokes and insults. In the forties and fifties, he hosted the wildly successful radio and TV quiz show You Bet Your Life. He died in 1977.

Bahama Shopping

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
– Aristotle

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Bahama Shopping – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Sharpie

This was painted from another reference by Lisilk at WetCanvas.  Li is a great photographer and I love it when she hosts the WDE at WetCanvas.  I’m headed out to install some signs.  Have a great day!

About Aristotle

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher who is considered one of the most influential thinkers in history, wrote a number of books about science, poetry, and ethics. He was born in 384 B.C. in Macedonia. He studied with Plato in Athens and later tutored Alexander the Great. His death in 322 B.C. was rumored to be caused by hemlock poisoning.

Bahama House Revamp – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor and Sharpie

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Bahama House Revamp – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor and Sharpie


It’s not that I didn’t like the house as it appeared in the photo by Lisilk at WetCanvas.  I did.  It was white (of course) and had green shutters, Christmas lights, and a lot of stuff in the yard.  First, I took down the lights and cleaned up the yard.  Then (and this is where I seem to have veered of the Bahamian path) I decided to play with my Yarka St. Petersburg Watercolors.   The set I have is very Cape Cod colored, if that makes any sense.  So the colors kinda went awry, but it was still very fun!!    Oh, the grass is not painted from that set, so it has a different hue. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 25, 1803, son of Ruth Haskins and the Rev. William Emerson, a Unitarian minister. He was named after his mother’s brother Ralph and the father’s great-grandmother Rebecca Waldo. Ralph Waldo was the second of five sons who survived into adulthood; the others were William, Edward, Robert Bulkeley, and Charles. Three other children—Phebe, John Clarke, and Mary Caroline–died in childhood.

The young Ralph Waldo Emerson’s father died from stomach cancer on May 12, 1811, less than two weeks before Emerson’s eighth birthday. Emerson was raised by his mother, with the help of the other women in the family; his aunt Mary Moody Emerson in particular had a profound effect on Emerson. She lived with the family off and on, and maintained a constant correspondence with Emerson until her death in 1863.  More…

Color Anyone? Another White Reference Photo

“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Color Anyone?  Another White Reference Photo – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor & Sharpie

Since yesterday’s post was totally void of color, I thought you might like some. 
This was painted from a photo by Lisilk at WetCanvas.  The reference photo was all white, except for the nature part.  It was taken in the Bahamas where Li lives.  Her photos are always amazing!

About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson helped spark the transcendentalist movement with the essay Nature, which described his belief in the spiritual essence of humanity and the natural world. He was born in Boston in 1803. He was a Unitarian minister until he resigned in 1832 to become a philosopher and writer. He suffered the untimely deaths of many of his loved ones: three brothers, his first wife at age 20, and his eldest son at age five. Emerson died in 1882.

Even a Sock Monkey Likes a Cool Dip to Refresh – 4″ x 6″ Ink

“Long live impermanence! Without it a flower would never blossom, a baby would never be able to walk or become a teenager and grow into adulthood.”
–Thich Nhat Hahn

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Even a Sock Monkey Likes a Cool Dip to Refresh – 4″ x 6″ Ink

Busy weekend and no time to fill in with watercolor.  I painted this from an photo by Lisilk at WetCanvas.  Li lives in the Bahamas and there were children playing on a floating toy in the ocean.  Somehow my brain went to “refresh” for Illustration Friday and of course… sock monkeys. 

Thich Nhat Hahn

The Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh (Thây)  founded the Unified Buddhist Church (Eglise Bouddhique Unifieé) in France in 1969, during the Vietnam war. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, a poet, a scholar, and a peace activist. His life long efforts to generate peace and reconciliation moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. He founded the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon and the School for Youths of Social Services in Vietnam. When not travelling the world to teach “The Art of Mindful Living”, he teaches, writes, and gardens in Plum Village, France, a Buddhist monastery for monks and nuns and a mindfulness practice center for lay people.  Source

How About a Swim?

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.”
– Vincent Lombardi

 

How About a Swim?
4″ x 6″ on Watercolor Greeting Card


I painted this little watercolor yesterday for my granddaughter’s birthday card.  It was fun trying to get as much color as I could into it, while staying pretty true to the great reference photo from Li.
I’m ready to take a dip.  Are you coming? 

About Vincent Lombardi

American football coach Vincent Lombardi is famed for turning the Green Bay Packers from a losing team to two-time Super Bowl champions. He was born in 1913 in Brooklyn. He initially wanted to be a priest, but changed his mind after he became the star fullback on his high school team. When he began coaching the Packers, he set up intensive training camps and demanded absolute dedication but promised them the championship. The NFL named him “Man of the Decade” in the 1960′s. He died in 1970.