My daughter Marilyn gave me a lovely poinsettia at Christmas and it has given me much pleasure ever since. It has been sitting on the coffee table next to the recliner which has been my bed at night and my nest during the day due to the fact that my back has kept me pretty much imobile. I have watched this beautiful flower gradually lose its leaves and decided I had to capture a part of it before it left me entirely.

Last night I drew it on a small piece of watercolor paper and painted it this evening with watercolor pencils. It was approximately 4" x 6" before I cropped it in photoshop, and is painted on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold-pressed watercolor paper. I thought it looked better cropped without so much of the blue background showing. Below is a portion of the real poinsettia.