Amy Boucher Pye

Tag: watercolor

  • Watercolor Wednesday: The gift of daily habits

    A watercolor with pen painting of farm buildings - a barn and silos - and a farm house, set in green countryside.
    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    Watercolor Wednesday is back!

    Today I’m thinking about farms, especially those in Minnesota and Iowa, as my parents were both raised on them in these states. I appreciate their work ethic which developed over many years of doing daily chores – the cows simply had to be milked and fed every day.

    How does a daily discipline inform your life? Do you have daily habits that you embrace – not only brushing your teeth and bathing (I hope), but daily rhythms of delight, such as going for a walk or listening to music?

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Finding Jesus through prayer

    A landscape of a river between an evergreen and a barren tree, with light coming down through the clouds.
    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    My dad has entitled this painting, “Finding Peace with Jesus through Prayer.” We so often find peace when we’re out in nature, don’t we. There’s something about being able to exhale in God’s creation that helps take us out of ourselves and our concerns as we look up to God and ponder the needs of others.

    We might feel as though we’re in a tough time – the deciduous tree might be in hibernation, as in this picture. But God will meet us through his Son and bring color into our lives. He will spring forth with new life after the time of being fallow.

    Know that God is on your side, whether you’re in a time of celebration and rejoicing or you are slogging ahead, one step after the other. If you can, dedicate some moments to finding Jesus through prayer.

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Pause and ponder

    The side of a cabin by the lake, with rocks and weeds in front a line of trees.
    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    Stop and pause for a few moments and let yourself imagine that you’re settled into a cabin (rustic or not – your preference) by a shimmering lake. You can see rocks and the weeds growing by the water with trees blowing in the breeze in the distance. You take a deep breath and release any tension that’s been building in your heart or your body, giving thanks for these moments of peace. Allow yourself to stop and ponder the wonders of creation, its beauty and peace, as you drink deeply of God’s glory.

    Know that you’re loved and cherished as you enjoy the beauty before you.

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Boat time

    A watercolor of a creek feeding into a lake with lush trees on either side.
    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    Well, since I can’t be in Minnesota just now as planned because of the pandemic, I will post one of my dad’s paintings from the land of 10,000 lakes. This is Sucker Creek going into Sucker Lake. A quick online search tells me that there are more than one Sucker Lake in Minnesota; this one is I’m guessing in Vadnais Heights (with suckers being a type of fish).

    None of us can take a canoe out onto that lake, for it’s regulated by the St. Paul Water Utility. But we can imagine. If you were to take a boat of some kind out onto the water, what would you do? Fish? Swim? Lounge in the sun? Take a few moments to imagine how you best would enjoy some lake time.

  • Watercolor Wednesday: A city by the sea

    A watercolor with the sea in the front and a little city nestled in the hills behind.
    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    We were supposed to be on holiday in Spain this week, soaking up the Mediterranean sunshine and enjoying a week to relax and recharge. Alas, the pandemic dashed those plans. But the weather here in London today has been lovely – warm but not too hot, with periods of sunshine. No need for air conditioning, but the sweet enjoyment of a breeze coming through the window. 

    Speaking of Mediterranean scenes, I love this little watercolor of my dad’s, which is a city somewhere along the Med he thinks. If you were there now, what would you be doing?

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Gone fishing

    A watercolor of a man fishing on the shore with big blue clouds merging the sky and water.
    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    Today’s painting is one where, as my dad says, the water does the work. He spreads the water and the paint and sees what it creates. If you have something satisfactory, paint the fisher person and the shore. If not, try again. He says you can create a painting like this in 20 minutes!

    If you were fishing on that lake, or that seaside, what would you be thinking and feeling as you cast out your line? Take a few minutes to place yourself there, and breathe deeply. 

  • Watercolor Wednesday: A walk in the rain

    Two women under a red umbrella with a man in blue to the side, walking in scenic Heidelberg, Germany.
    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    My dad paints in many different styles, and I particularly like his more abstract interpretations, such as this lovely watercolor from a trip he and my mom enjoyed in the picturesque town of Heidelberg, Germany. What strikes me are the stark colors against the more muted background.

    Our weather today is the opposite of the soaking drizzle we see here, but of course in the UK we have a lot of that kind of rain.

    If you were to enter this scene, who would you be – one of the women under the umbrella or the man in blue, or someone off the side just entering? What would you be doing, and why?

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Life before all of this

    Seeing people grouped together now, such as in this painting by my dad, seems to stem from a different time. It feels poignant and removed from our experience today. I wonder how life will be different when we come out of lockdown?

    How are you doing? Are you missing any gatherings in particular?

    [By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved. Picture is of a snapshot from Rudesheim in Germany, a city my parents visited when they took a trip down the Rhine river.]

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Living water

    A sky-blue stream bringing color to brown earth and trees.

    I find this recent painting that my dad created so evocative. It captures those weeks in Minnesota that seemingly go on a long time – when the snow has melted but the signs of Spring feel far off. Brown is the color of the ground and perhaps of the soul, as things can feel lifeless and perhaps hopeless.

    Maybe you feel a bit brown these days, as the stay-inside orders and all that is behind them affect you with some small – or huge – griefs. Yet the stream with its color and life brings hope to the scene, just as God’s living water brings life and grace as it cleanses and renews us.

    May you, during these uncertain times, receive the gift of God’s living water.

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Stark hope

    A late autumn scene of a brook with bare trees and one fallen tree with yellow leaves.
    By Leo Boucher. Used with permission; all rights reserved.

    I meant to take a walk in the nearby brook today, but some stuff happened and I didn’t make it there before darkness descended – which when I checked the time of sundown, was 3.51pm. That’s feeling early. I have to be more organized to enjoy the outdoors in December.

    But my dad sent me this watercolor from a photo I took in the brook recently, and that made me feel like I’d enjoyed its beauty (although my Fitbit doesn’t reflect the accompanying exercise). I love how he’s captured the stark beauty – the remnants of autumn and the bare branches.

    What remnants of color are hanging on in the wastelands of your life?

    How can you pray for more color to surround you, or for life to grow in what may seem like a wasteland?