Autumn's Flavors

As September 2011 approaches, there's a nip of Autumn in the air. Leaves begin to change and fall traditions come to mind.

One of my favorite is seeing my beloved Aspen trees coming into their full golden regalia. In our area they exist only at higher elevations. Well, mostly ... I do have one we planted right outside our front windows. And Annie (that's her name) is thriving with all the love and joy I sent her as she quakes back at me. But Ro & I head up towards Klamath Falls and catch some early girls in their glory. They just shimmer up against the dreamy dark greens of the evergreens. This sketch was from a sunny bend we came around. The following week we took an adventurous drive up behind the Mt. Ashland Ski Area, ending up in Hilt, California. It's a very "back woods" drive with several grand views and some sparkling yellow aspens as our daring rewards.

As October comes and goes, of course, Halloween is a playful endeavor. I've only gotten my hubby to dress one time in costume so, now the celebration is mainly about the kids. But it was extremely fun when my neighbor came a-looking for costume possibilities from me. I dug out my two favorites and she and her mom donned the outfits. Mary went as the feisty black cat (yep, that's a rhinestone collar!) and her mom became the black bear I'd made for Roland's sole costume escapade. I got shots of them before they went to their party - and at first, when I was working on this image - was bummed I'd cropped off Mary's head. But in the end I really felt it was about bringing joy to her mom. And she's surely in the spotlight!

I always say I'm not gonna paint fall leaves again, but when the colors come I just can not resist the brilliance. This year I'd heard about this process used in creating fabric designs. What you do is pick a brightly colored leaf and place it on your empty journal page, place a piece of paper (I used our plain computer paper) over your leaf, then, using a hammer, pound away. Peek under the paper occasionally so as not to make pulp of the leaf. But, as you can see the transfers are exquisite. Very delicate with lots of detail. I've noticed they have begun to oxidize so it might behove me to spray or paint with a fixative next year. Try it out, pretty fascinating process!!

The full page spread feels rather cheerful and dancy - - but not too surprising - - autumn brings on that energy for me :)