This little gem was included in my father’s 1964 solo watercolor show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from which it vanished into a private home.

“Hundreds of firefighters and rescue workers face impassible roads and destroyed bridges, and over 3,000 residents have been evacuated…”

“I have a very vivid memory of being carried into fairly rough surf by a local fisherman, because I was demanding to be allowed into the water, and my mother was concerned about the waves.”

In the Southern US, Spanish Moss apparently was named Itla-Okla or “Tree Hair” by Native Americans; as the French and Spanish created new, retaliatory names for it that mildly insulted one another’s beards and hair, “Spanish Moss,” ended up sticking.

“I titled this painting assuming that the name painted on the basket was indeed that of the lettuce seller. The scene is in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, where the rain falls mainly everywhere —hence the damp pavement.” 

“Donkeys are part of how things get done. Patient. Steadfast. Hardworking. Humble. Strong. Clark Hulings said: ‘If left to their own devices and their own pace, they will serve well. They are by nature sure-footed, loyal and affectionate.’ “

“Who doesn’t want a chance to look up from typing an email and pretend, just for a moment, that we are flying across the universe in a spaceship, or captaining a submarine?”

“If I had yelled to alert them the house was on fire, they would have fled to the street only after correcting my grammar.”

“This painting just seemed appropriate for this cold April day. The white sky implies imminent snow, but the little boy’s shorts and t-shirt suggest incautious optimism—a tilting at weather windmills…”

“Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten — a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me.” — Helen Keller

“It was to Enna that our Sicilian friends encouraged us to ‘rush’ should we encounter ‘bandits’ while scouring the countryside for painting material.”