A Little Kansas City Skyline – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

“He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to change reality.”
– Anwar al-Sadat

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

A Little Kansas City Skyline – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

This is a little 4″ x 6″ Painting.  Less time to paint, but oh my, those details are little!  At least I didn’t have to paint any bricks. 

About Anwar al-Sadat

Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat won the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize in conjunction with Israeli prime minister Menachim Begin for the Camp David Accords. He was born in Egypt on December 25, 1918. He participated in the 1952 coup to oust the corrupt King Farouk and became president in 1970. He led Egypt into the Yom Kippur War to reclaim part of the Sinai Peninsula. When that failed, he took the risky diplomatic path, opening the door to détente. He was assassinated on October 6, 1981 by Muslim extremists.

Kansas City Autumn Cityscape – 8″ x 10″ Watercolor & Ink

“Action is the antidote to despair.”
– Joan Baez

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Kansas City Autumn Cityscape – 8″ x 10″ Watercolor & Ink

Yes… it’s another Kansas City skyline.  I did two more over the weekend, as I stayed home with a sick hubby.  I even got a good start on a third.  I have a couple Salina, KS paintings coming.  They are more focused on a single building vs a cityscape.

What do you think of the sky in this one?  Trying something different. 

About Joan Baez

American singer Joan Baez, known for her clear soprano and her belief in music as a tool for change, is widely considered the godmother of modern folk-rock. She was born in New York in 1941. She is an ardent activist, working for civil rights, nonviolence, and worker’s rights. She received the ACLU’s Earl Warren Award for her commitment to international human rights and, at the 2007 Grammy’s, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Her music includes the chart-topping version of “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and the album Diamonds and Rust. She has one son.

Kansas City Skyline at Convention Center Exit – 8″ x 10″ Watercolor

“Stress is the trash of modern life. We all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.”
–Terri Guillemets

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Kansas City Skyline at Convention Center Exit – 8″ x 10″ Watercolor

My friend Jim “Botee” Meyer supplied the photo reference for this painting.  It was a little confusing, but I had so much fun doing it.  I didn’t realize until later that the Sticky-up thingies with the wires coming from them is actually Bartle Hall, and it crosses the highway, too.  Fun stuff!

Terri Guillemets, U.S. quotation anthologist

Terri Guillemets (b.1973) is a quotation anthologist from Phoenix, Arizona who has collected quotes since age thirteen. Her passion is sharing inspirational, thought-provoking, and humorous quotations with a worldwide audience via her website The Quote Garden at www.quotegarden.com, one of the most long-standing online quotation collections and the first to offer a wide variety of special occasion topics. With a personal, heartfelt approach she shares inspiration and love of words with the world, “spreading quotatious joy” as she calls it. A curmudgeonesque optimist whose inner child will never grow up, she also enjoys nature, photography, cloudgazing, and family.

Seattle Skyline in Technicolor

“You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Seattle Skyline – 6″ x 8″ Watercolor & Sharpie

Valri Ary posted a photo of Seattle’s skyline on WetCanvas.  Of course, I eliminated all the ships and barges docked up there.  And, okay…. I may have made the buildings a little more fun, but what’s the harm in that?  :)

I drew the buildings, then laid down all the windows with itty bitty dabs of white acrylic, tinted with yellow or aqua.  When it was dry, I went in with watercolor.  This is why everything looks so pastel.  There’s a lot of little windows repelling the watercolor.  My own resist.  I almost didn’t add the sharpie, but gave in at the end.  I think I like it.

Still no work computer, so I spent part of the day adding wires to the backs of paintings I am taking to the new gallery this morning.  I’m a little nervous.  I have been in our little arts council gallery for quite a while and my work is selling there, but this one will be quite a different beast.  I understand that each artist will have their own bar code.   Hmmmm…. should be a fun learning experience, to say the least.   

About Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Gandhi, known by the honorific title Mahatma (“great souled”), embodied the power of nonviolent protest to achieve great change. He was born in India in 1896 and awoke to discrimination while practicing law in South Africa. He brought the struggle for equality back to India, rousing the population to demand self-rule from the British. He was profoundly religious, spending one day a week in complete silence; he was also a devout vegetarian. He was assassinated in 1948.