--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As for me, I am a watercolor. I wash off." description: "\"As for me, I am a watercolor. I wash off.\" — Anne Sexton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/anne-sexton-645_artist_as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off-2_2919031.png" --- # As for me, I am a watercolor. I wash off. ![“As for me, I am a watercolor. I wash off.” quote by Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/anne-sexton-645_artist_as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off-2_2919031.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/anne-sexton-645_artist_as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off-2_2919031.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/anne-sexton-645_artist_as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off-2_2919031.png) > “As for me, I am a watercolor. I wash off.” [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker likens herself to watercolor, implying fluidity and the ability to dissolve or change. **In simple terms:** I am like watercolor, I fade away. Key Takeaway Embrace adaptability. Themes art identity transience creativity Mood poetic introspective Type literary When to use this quote - creative writing - therapy - artistic expression - personal growth Key Concepts metaphor self‑concept impermanence Questions to Reflect On - How does fluidity serve you? - When might stability be needed? A Different Perspective May suggest avoidance of confronting solid identity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Watercolor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watercolor/) ## Related quotes > [Blue eyes wash off sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blue-eyes-wash-off-sometimes/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“The watercolor people hadn’t moved, hadn’t seen us, were still busy being dead and artistic. Good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-monk/the-watercolor-people-hadn-t-moved-hadn-t-seen-us-were-still-busy/) [Devon Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-monk/) > [To me, watercolor is a Western medium, so when I feel like I am using a Western manner I will use English to sign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liu-dan/to-me-watercolor-is-a-western-medium-so-when-i-feel-like-i-am-using-a/) [Liu Dan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liu-dan/) > [Watercolor is an alchemical medium - colors mixing with water, joining with it, being extended by it - creating new life where none had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-raffael/watercolor-is-an-alchemical-medium-colors-mixing-with-water-joining/) [Joseph Raffael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-raffael/) > [To me, that's one of the things that I love about doing this stuff. One day I can work on this piece in watercolor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-sienkiewicz/to-me-that-s-one-of-the-things-that-i-love-about-doing-this-stuff-one/) [Bill Sienkiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-sienkiewicz/) > [Because watercolor actually moves on the paper, it is the most active of all mediums, almost a performance art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-engle/because-watercolor-actually-moves-on-the-paper-it-is-the-most-active/) Nita Engle > [“Embracing our challenges and shortcomings illuminates the vivid pigments of our unique watercolor of life. With each stroke of difficulty and dribbles of weakness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-leigh/embracing-our-challenges-and-shortcomings-illuminates-the-vivid/) Tina Leigh > [Watercolor is like life. Better get it right the first time--you don't get a second chance!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-bongart/watercolor-is-like-life-better-get-it-right-the-first-time-you-don-t/) [Sergei Bongart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-bongart/) > [Perhaps the reason memories of youth are always in watercolor, is because it ends before it can be put in more vivid colors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/perhaps-the-reason-memories-of-youth-are-always-in-watercolor-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A photograph to me is always a reminder of how the person was on a certain day in that certain light fixed. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesco-clemente/a-photograph-to-me-is-always-a-reminder-of-how-the-person-was-on-a/) [Francesco Clemente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesco-clemente/) > [When I travel, I always take my Winsor & Newton watercolor kit, which is the size of a pack of cigarettes when folded up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-minot/when-i-travel-i-always-take-my-winsor-newton-watercolor-kit-which-is/) [Susan Minot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-minot/) > [“Sal and Henry return with a gust of warm garden air and I settle down to create miniature roses from sugarpaste using tiny ivory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martine-bailey/sal-and-henry-return-with-a-gust-of-warm-garden-air-and-i-settle-down/) [Martine Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martine-bailey/) > [“according to my figures I've only had 2500 pieces of ass but I've watched 12500 horse races, and if I have any advice to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/according-to-my-figures-i-ve-only-had-2500-pieces-of-ass-but-i-ve/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [She was transparent, like a watercolor. As if she were about to dissolve in sound, in tones not yet created.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/she-was-transparent-like-a-watercolor-as-if-she-were-about-to/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [If I have any advice to anybody it's this: take up watercolor painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/if-i-have-any-advice-to-anybody-it-s-this-take-up-watercolor-painting/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## More by Anne Sexton > [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I am crazy as hell, but I know it. And knowing it is a kind of sanity that makes the sickness worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-am-crazy-as-hell-but-i-know-it-and-knowing-it-is-a-kind-of-sanity/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [And what of the dead? They lie without shoes in the stone boats. They are more like stone than the sea would be if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/and-what-of-the-dead-they-lie-without-shoes-in-the-stone-boats-they/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [The Witch's Life" When I was a child there was an old woman in our neighborhood whom we called The Witch. All day she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/the-witch-s-life-when-i-was-a-child-there-was-an-old-woman-in-our/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I have forgiven all the old actors for dying. A new one comes on with the same lines, like large white growths, in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-have-forgiven-all-the-old-actors-for-dying-a-new-one-comes-on-with/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“From the Garden” Come, my beloved, consider the lilies. We are of little faith. We talk too much. Put your mouthful of words away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/from-the-garden-come-my-beloved-consider-the-lilies-we-are-of-little/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Oh thumb, I want a drink it is dark, where are the big people, when will I get there...?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/oh-thumb-i-want-a-drink-it-is-dark-where-are-the-big-people-when-will/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I want to kiss God on His nose and watch Him sneeze and so do you. Not out of disrespect. Out of pique. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-want-to-kiss-god-on-his-nose-and-watch-him-sneeze-and-so-do-you-not/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I, in my brand new body, which was not a woman's yet, told the stars my questions and thought God could really see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-in-my-brand-new-body-which-was-not-a-woman-s-yet-told-the-stars-my/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Father, you died once, salted down at fifty-nine, packed down like a big snow angel, wasn't that enough?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/father-you-died-once-salted-down-at-fifty-nine-packed-down-like-a-big/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [When I'm writing, I know I'm doing the thing I was born to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/when-i-m-writing-i-know-i-m-doing-the-thing-i-was-born-to-do/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Cinderella and the prince lived, they say, happily ever after, like two dolls in a museum case never bothered by diapers or dust, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/cinderella-and-the-prince-lived-they-say-happily-ever-after-like-two/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“Quite collected at cocktail parties, meanwhile in my head I'm undergoing open-heart surgery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/quite-collected-at-cocktail-parties-meanwhile-in-my-head-i-m/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I cannot walk an inch / without trying to walk to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-cannot-walk-an-inch-without-trying-to-walk-to-god/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Now that I have written many words, and let out so many loves, for so many, and been altogether what I always was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/now-that-i-have-written-many-words-and-let-out-so-many-loves-for-so/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) [Explore all 428 Anne Sexton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As for me, I am a watercolor. I wash off.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anne Sexton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/anne-sexton-645_artist_as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off-2_2919031.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/anne-sexton-645_artist_as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off-2_2919031.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/anne-sexton-645_artist_as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off-2_2919031.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As for me, I am a watercolor. I wash off.” — Anne Sexton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anne Sexton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "As for me, I am a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/as-for-me-i-am-a-watercolor-i-wash-off/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```