Garden near Lucca c. 1910

John Singer Sargent made this watercolor in a garden near Lucca. It’s a sunny scene, a monument made of stone, kind of austere but also softened by climbing foliage with flowers. I love the looseness of the brushwork, the quick shorthand of it all. Sargent is so confident and just *goes* for it. It's almost like he’s daring the painting to fall apart. He's not fussy, not trying to get it ‘right’, but laying down washes of color and letting them do their thing, mingling and blooming. I can imagine him thinking, "Okay, blue sky, got it. Stone monument, yep, there it is. Now, where's the light hitting? Let's splash some yellow ochre there." And those greens and purples of the vine – they bring the whole painting to life. So much freedom of expression, I find myself transported to Italy with him. I am forever in conversation with artists like Sargent who invite freedom and confidence into my own work.