Entries Tagged as: autumn

Day 10: Fall

November 10th, 2011, Comments (23)

Another day of starting art during the morning nap and finishing it after the baby's bedtime. This is good! I'm finding ways to fit art in that work for all of us, even if it is a tight squeeze, especially on days like today when Annabelle fought tooth and nail to stay awake. Oy!

I had the inkling of an idea for this piece at the end of last month and today felt like a good day to bring it to life! The woman at the center is letting leaves fall from her hands. I think it's an homage to letting go. She is like a tree herself, letting the leaves fall to the ground.

Someone asked me today what medium I've been using. In this piece and the last, I worked with acrylic paint on watercolor paper, with a bit of ink for the small details.

Fall At My Feet

October 20th, 2011, Comments (9)

Beauty to behold everywhere. On my jog this morning, I was struck by the contrast of leaves and needles against pavement. Especially the pine needles. And the different types of pavement create such interesting backgrounds as well. So cool!

I'm also smiling at the play on words: fall, at my feet or fall at my feet. Simple pleasures that fall brings: fall foliage, nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin, the smell of fires burning in fireplaces, children in "back-to-school clothes" they bought in the summer, sweatshirts and warm socks, warm drinks, candles, soup, and scarves.

Autumn Flowers

October 14th, 2011, Comments (6)

Oh, autumn. You dazzle me with your colors!

It's like this last hurrah of fall fireworks before the bleakness of winter hits. A mix of death in bare branches and dying leaves and brilliant life in full color. What an inspiring sight to behold.

Normally, I'm immediately drawn to the fall foliage, but this year, I've been noticing the fall flowers. Aren't they lovely?

The Spirit That Moves Me

October 7th, 2011, Comments (14)

I've been working for a while now on a piece for Kristen's blog, "The Spirit That Moves Me." It took a bit longer than I may have wanted, mainly because I don't have many long stretches for art with Annabelle's (lack of) sleep schedule. But in the end, I told Kristen, that it happened just the way it was meant to because when I was able to work on it, I felt like I tapped into something deeper, some bit of magic and intuition that brought it all together. I love when those moments happen in art-making! The process is a lot like Kristen's blog name actually. How fitting!

Those are the moments you can't plan for, you can only provide the opportunity by showing up and going with the flow. Creating art for someone else is always tricky, partly because the way I work includes a lot of going with the flow, something you can't really describe ahead of time. It's hard to know exactly what the end result will be. Fortunately, Kristen was very patient with the time it took, the way I worked, and happily she is pleased with the result. Hoorah!

It seemed appropriate to share it during this month of autumn because there is an Fall feel to it, maybe something about the color. I do love the colors of fall.

p.s. If you haven't already, be sure to sign up for Goddess Leonie's (totally free!) World's Biggest Summit! There are so many inspiring speakers! My video about living the Creative Every Day life was posted yesterday (day 6), but you can view it anytime once you've signed up.

Creative Every Day theme for October: Autumn

September 27th, 2011, Comments (13)

At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. For the month of October 2011, the theme will be Autumn.

As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it inspires you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between. You can sign up for the 2011 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime. More info can be found here and the sign-up page is here.

I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

  • *Take a walk and collect items that say fall to you.
  • *Use the items you've collected to make an "ode to autumn" arrangement in your space.
  • *Photograph a place in nature each day to capture the changes that happen during the season.
  • *Use fallen leaves to make prints or rubbings.
  • *Paint in autumn colors.
  • *Concoct warm drinks or foods that make you think of fall (think nutmeg, apples, and cinnamon!)
  • *Think back to your favorite fall moments and capture them in a poem.
  • *Press the last flowers of fall between the pages of book to savor or create with later.

How to use the CED themes:

If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.

Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.

And have fun with it!

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

p.s. The art above is adapted from my piece, Dark Tree, available here.

p.p.s.Get ready for next month, when we take a break from the themes and celebrate Art Every Day Month!