Ruminations of an idle mind of a water colour artist

Watercolours make you think of water and colour

Water they say has a mind,

Colour on the other is unkind,

Black or white? Them vs Us they say,

Not a scant regard to the many shades of grey.

Water when liquid flows everywhere,

Has a habit of finding empty spaces parched bare.

If you can’t control its direction, it can ruin your art,

But I forgive it easily cause it has so much heart.

Water when frozen is another thing altogether,

Can be as dangerous as red and burnt umber.

The transparency of ice is a clever device,

To hide the transition, the naked thirst for power.

The white colour has sought to dominate the discourse,

Pushing aside the yellow, brown and black of course.

That’s why I have a fondness for watercolour art,

White has no place in it, well maybe a limited part.

There’s red, blue and yellow the primary three,

Mix them up and experiment they will set you free.

They will open your mind and take you within,

Take you to a world where you will see no sin

The colours of the person of every faith,

Depends on your glaze not gaze.

The seductive tones of mullah’s priests and despots,

The psychotic world of media, law, business and crackpots

Result in a cesspool of muddy brown, dark and damp,

Created by colours of opposing camps.

When you muddle through the confusing layers of water colour my friend,

There is many a life lesson that it can send.

You will see everything has a context, a reason in the bend,

And it’s the picture in the canvas that matters in the end.

- Meera Patwardhan