Winter Watercolor

I have several Epping Road photos that I didn't use when I did my pastel series, so I dug some of them out for watercolor practice. As usual, this looks better in the picture than in real life, but it's still pretty good. I think I got a little dark in the road. I tried to stop myself, but I kept working and working until I felt the darks were dark enough. Values are so important to me, I'm not satisfied until I've piled too much paint on the paper. Luckily I left the sky pretty much alone, which saves the painting.

It seemed appropriate to do a winter scene, even though we have set our clocks ahead this past week-end in a rush to Spring. I suppose it must be coming, but it is very cold despite the rain having washed away a lot of the snow. I dress and undress without taking all my clothes off at the same time, and wear several layers. I'm warmest when I'm ready for bed, wearing the fleece robe Toni passed on to me. I don't know why I feel I have to put clothes on every day, even if I'm not going anywhere. We have been taught that it is slothful to keep our nightclothes on and the habit is so ingrained that it has become doctrine. We follow the rules even if no one will ever know.

It reminds me of something I read by Stephen King. He said that in some experiment people were told to urinate in their pants and most of them couldn't do it....literally. I believe it.