ArtistsNetwork.com 65Within a few minutes, an ambulance arrived and then
her adult children, who were there to bring him home.
When I saw the man being lifted out of the ambulance,
I knew he wasn’t coming home to recuperate. He was com-
ing home to die. I sat there and attempted to make sense of
the day. I’d set out to view life in Siena—not the tourist’s
view, but real life, and that’s exactly what I’d encountered.
No matter where we are in the world, life is full of people
mourning, laughing, crying, loving and aching. Th at after-
noon in Siena was a reminder that it’s the people in our lives
who make life special. I walked to a nearby café, ordered
a cappuccino and started to write. A quote by John W.
Gardner came to mind that perfectly captured my feelings,
and I wrote it across my sketch: “Life is the art of drawing
without an eraser.” WA
Meet the Artist
Artist and workshop teacher Brenda
Swenson (swensonsart.net) is the
author of Keeping a Watercolor
Sketchbook and Steps to Success in
Watercolor (Artist’s Library). Her
work has been featured in the
competition art books, Splash 11, 12 ,
14, 19 and 20 (North Light Books),
and many art magazines. She has
served on the boards for National
Watercolor Society and Watercolor West (WW). She’s a
signature member of WW, the Northwest Watercolor
Society, the San Diego Watercolor Society and the
California Watercolor Society.