Here's what happened with my own very splotchy interpretation of this photograph. No, I wasn't really trying for an abstract.  It just happened.

Why?  Two things sent me to the patio to spend an afternoon experimenting with watercolors.  One, just the Friday before, I had gotten a very large LSU project off my shoulders, so my mind was released from serious duty.  Two, I had just acquired some Hydrus watercolors and I wanted to test them.

So, a couple of days ago, a beautiful spring afternoon in my area, I went out to my patio with paper and paint in hand.  It was a large 1/2 sheet of Arches, taped securely all the way around on a huge stiff board (thanks for leaving the board, Sue).  My plan was to use the Hydras droppers that came with the paint bottles and drop paint onto the paper.  Just for fun.

The sun warmed my back.  The birds were twittering.  The fragrance of wisteria filled the air.  A bright red cardinal was perched atop a nearby bush.  He was either very nearsighted or had accepted me as part of the natural background.  The colors from the droppers started to drop.  *bing*  That's pretty.  *bing*  I like that.  *bing*  What would happen if I sprayed a mist of water over it?  *bing*  Ooo!  Nice!  *bing*  Wait a minute... that was a mistake.

All went fairly well until the paper started to buckle in a couple of spots.  Unwanted color flowed into the caved-in areas.  The path to the mountains had closed.   The other colors started to flow in unwanted directions.  "Oh no!" I said.  The cardinal cocked one eye in my direction and *tsked* -- or was it a chuckle?  No matter.  It was such a glorious afternoon that I just kept dropping colors and spraying the paper with a fine mist of water, and then a fine mist of alcohol.  (No, not that kind... it was denatured alcohol in a spray bottle.)  Added some salt, but never mind that.

What a wonderfully relaxing afternoon!  It all comes back to me when I look at my rather ghastly painting... the warmth of the sun, the birds singing, the fragrance of wisteria, a watchful cardinal.

Would I do it again?  In a heartbeat, but with smaller paper, in a block, and perhaps with more knowledge (or not).