Neighbor Jessie Schlenker has been doing some terrific Bernal Heights watercolors lately, and one of his pieces is now on display at the stylish Bernal Heights Library. Jessie tells Bernalwood:

I am a resident of Bernal, and like many, I’m head over heels in love with it.

My artistic relationship with San Francisco began the first time I visited the city on a family vacation. I grew up in suburbia, with its infinite varieties of the color beige, where navy blue and avocado were splashes of color. San Francisco was nourishment to this color-starved child. The variety and richness of the colors, languages, smells and the dense, visual texture of the city delighted my young mind.

The city during the hour of twilight is the focus of my work. As John Steinbeck so wonderfully puts it, “It’s the hour of the pearl. The interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself.”

The “hour of the pearl” is pure magic. The city and all her inhabitants start to relax into the evening. The sky is illuminated with fires of deep blue and turquoise while the city windows, cars, buses, bridges and streetlights glow with their own warmth. I become enchanted and feel compelled to capture that elusive light with the medium of watercolors.

My latest work is on display at the Bernal Library. it’s a painting of the corner at 18th and mission. Sorry, no photo of it yet.

It’s on display at the library because i’m part of the Russeller Watercolor Society that meets in their community room every other Friday from 1-5pm. I’m one of the organizers of the group. We have several wonderful watercolorists from the hill join us. Laurie Wigham paints with us, as you might remember.

IMAGES: Jessie Schlenker