Difficulty in the Abstract
A few lines.
A choice of colors, placement.
The density of the paint,
the hue.
It’s not even of a thing.
Just a feeling. An emotion,
and twice as ephemeral.
A single brush stroke out of place
and it can all be ruined,
and ten feet of canvas has to be begun again.
But that’s the thing.
You can always begin again.
About this poem
About making abstract art. About making life.
I do believe we can always begin again. It is one of God’s graces, if not his biggest grace.
I am working on a ten-foot canvas in my studio right now and almost ruined it two days ago with a single brush stroke. It’s been a challenge to get it back on track.
From those things, this poem.
Since life has become smaller in recent months, so has the variety of photographs. This is one of a series of watercolors I did a while back on Japanese lanterns.
Be well,
Tom
Quarry House 
Even before I read the poem the image evoked a memory and sure enough there they are- the bright red lanterns of festivals and tiny shops in winding alleys of Osaka and Old Tokyo. Such a gift.