The Sunflower Shack Watercolors by Bertie Brown

The Sunflower Shack

original watercolor landscape en plein air: 10" x 14"

Goldfinch Grinch

My sunflower girls

Never use my sunblock 

Nor do they apply

 Suntan lotion a lot

They’re naturally golden

Their brown faces boastin’

Their fearless devotion

To sunshine in motion

But there are some days

They have to confess

A shot of pest spray

Would be their best bet

For shoo-ing away 

Gold finches of prey

‘Cause finches 

Are Grinches

As they yank pull and splay

The petals and bonnets

My sunflowers boast

In my poems and sonnets

Why couldn’t they just

Gather seeds without fuss.... 

BB

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The Smokehouse at Landis Valley Farms Watercolors by Bertie Brown

The Smokehouse at Landis Valley

original en plein air watercolor: 10" x 14"

so there i was painting

to whit, en plein air

the sun it was shining

the view oh so fair

what i did not see

was a stranger near me

he must have been testy

that bugger so pesty

who unknown to me

(painting diligently)

took exception, i guess

and gave me his best

i hollered out OUCH

you bugger you beast

i’m stung and you’re OUT 

squashed by my feet

so here’s the main thing 

when painting plein air

to avoid a bee sting

use bug spray EV’RYWHERE!

BB’18

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Too Hot to Trot Watercolors by Bertie Brown

 To Grandmother's House

original: 10" x 14"

Too Hot to Trot

original watercolor animal pic: 10" x 14" 

what HO

too bad i now know 

what living inside

a work zone implies 

‘cause circumsizin’

a basement flood zone

has taken it’s toll

 on ALL my household

the jackhammer’s jumpin’

that reverb is somethin’

there’s dust dancin’ round

the clean spots it’s found

my once tidy home

is mocking at me

my Mrs Clean throne

has picked up and gone

i’ve gotta stop frettin’

and throw in the towel

the dust, it will settle

soon, but not now

then final-ly

my job is i see

to clean until fall

2019

BB'18

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En Plein Air QwikPix Watercolors by Bertie Brown

 Angry Birds

Tractor Shax

En Plein Air QwikPix

original watercolor chickens/farmscape: 8" x10" / 10" x 14"

are Lightning Bugs 

buggers

that blink in the night

just summer time pluggers

getting on with their lives

or do they endeavor

to be so much better

when call-ed fire-flies

alighting June nights

it’s really semantics

but much more romantic

and downright dra-mantic

to portray all their frantic

light sparking antics

when their claim to fame

- a butt with a flame -

is enhanced by a name

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The John Jacob House Watercolors by Bertie Brown

The John Jacob House

original watercolor plein air home portrait: 9" x 12"

think that it’s done

and I had some fun

‘though there a few 

solutions that skewed

my original view

and managed to be

surprising, you see

so now I don’t know

if it’s fit to show

if not,

 you’ve just got

to tell me to Stop!

BB

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Home Portrait Watercolors by Bertie Brown

Home Portrait

original watercolor: 10" x 14"

Sophie and I know

that sometimes it’s best

to simply allow

a painting to rest

it may just be done

'cause there are intense

and beautiful hues

that seem to make sense

we want to be sure

we have to confess

that this work secures

it’s soulful-ishness

BB

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Autumness Watercolors by Bertie Brown

The John Jacob House

original: 9" x 12

Autumness

original plein air watercolor landscape: 9" x 12"

sometimes i find 

myself much confined

by ideas gone wrong

what took me so long

to finally say

that’s enough now, okay...

but 

sometimes it’s fun

to do more than one

‘cause maybe i’ll learn

to finally discern

the good and the bad

to discount a fad

and find that rare link

that was missing, i think......

BB

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The Neighbor Watercolors by Bertie Brown

The Neighbor

original plein air watercolor: 10" x 14"

and this is the question

can I toss intention

and renounce all strife

at this stage of life?

could I, if you please,

watch daytime TV

munch crackers and brie

sip Long Isle Iced Teas

would I, do you see,

be happy with ease??

BB

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Shack Attack Plein Air Watercolors by Bertie Brown

Shack Attack

original en plein air watercolor w/shack: 10" x 15"

Harmo-nious Perso-nious

went out for a run 

this very fine day

had lots to be done

stuff that gets in the way

of some fun in the sun

but nature’s libretto

called out ceremo-nious

in pleasing vibrato

a sound tremolo-nious

twas something I sought to

experience in perso-nious

and when I got done

on this very fine day

from my run in the sun

I was all tuned up and completely harmo-nious

BB

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Sophie's Sweet Talkin' Friends Watercolors by Bertie Brown

Sophie's Sweet Talkin' Friends

original watercolor landscape w/figure, pony, burrow : 10" x 14"

Sophie and I 

are asking you-all

are buttercups high in cholesterol?

they glisten like butter

in their gold-yellow clusters

we think they’d taste great

and we’d be well fed

if we used them as spread

on our jelly bread

wouldn’t popcorn just popped

be better with hot

melted buttercups drizzled

all over the top?

is lobster that’s baked

in buttercup paste  

richer in flavor

more pleasing to taste?

Sophie and I

just giggled and said

we think that we’ll paint

her new friends instead!

BB

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The Boettcher House Plein Air Watercolors by Bertie Brown

The Boettcher House

original en plein air watercolor: the Boettcher House: 10"x 14"

and this is the question

can I toss intention

and renounce all strife

at this stage of life?

could I, if you please,

watch daytime TV

munch crackers and brie

sip Long Isle Iced Teas

would I, do you see,

be happy with ease??

BB

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Susque-Hammock Plein Air Watercolors by Bertie Brown

Susque-Hammock

original plein air watercolorat Wrightsville, PA: 9" x 12"

Summer Solstice

'tis mid-summer too soon

what happened to June?

and July’s on the run

yet it’s hardly begun!

i don’t know about you

but I’m gonna assume

you’re distraught just like me

‘cause we love summer’s ease

i’m thinking we might

have to put up a fight

so when summertime ends

let’s begin it again

BB

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Bloomin' June Plein Air Watercolors by Bertie Brown

 Lemon Yellow

Bloomin' June

original plein air watercolors w/Conestoga House  Sunroom and Gardens: 9" x 12"

the June flower guild

is in this backyard

it’s a wallflower farm

with plenty of charm

there’s rose in the glow

of this sumptuous show

as the finches and bees

in their feasting agree

so let’s have some fun

before summer’s done

we’ve one month or two

to enjoy the view!

BB

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Summertime is Oh So Fine Plein Air Watercolors by Bertie Brown

Summertime is Oh So Fine

original plein air watercolor:/Steinman Manse, Lancaster: 10" x 13" 

in the beginning

we all loved the sun

we couldn’t get enough

we were never quite “done”

our faces were bronzed

our hair sun-streaked gold

our innocence reigned

we’d never grow old

but time has a way

a mean streak, I’d say,

of hastening the days

that youth does betray

so now that we’re old

or older, to wit,

we’re gonna wise up

and use sunscreen, just a bit...

BB

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Poppa's Day Gig Plein Air Watercolors by Bertie Brown

Poppa's Day Gig

 original plein air watercolor/Lime Valley Mill: 11" x 14"

Curiosity

curiouser and curiouser

it seems to me

this summer’s the bomb

at flirting, you see

‘cause just when you feel

a cool  weightless breeze

a sun so friendly

you’re relaxin’ indeed

a thick hulking cloud 

of hu-MID-ity

descends with a shout

and spreads itself out

oh yes there’s the rub

to summer time fun

those idyllic days

come quickly undone....

BB

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The Manse on Marietta Plein air Watercolors by Bertie Brown

Manse on Marietta

original watercolor plein air landscape: 10" x 13"

oh spring

is the thing

we hope for in November

long for in December

lose in January

right through February

cry for in March

die for in April

can’t wait one more day

for the merry month of May

and still cold temps cling

to every bloomin’ thing!

so when the month of June

bursts suddenly into view

I look around and smile

PLEASE stay with me awhile

BB

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