Autumn has officially arrived

Autumn arrived here on the East Coast yesterday at 11:44am. Mind you, these photos weren't taken this week and certainly weren't taken in NC. It's not time for the leaves to be this glorious but I wanted to put you in mind of a new color palette for this time of year.
Are these colors not the most amazing things you've ever seen? Can you see the blues and purples in these leaves? It always amazes me when I pull out my leaf stamps and my watercolor crayons that people are surprised by my use of every crayon in the tin. Every color of the rainbow can be found if you just take the time to really look around you.
Be inspired by the colors of the changing seasons. For the next few weeks as you're driving around, pay less attention to the dinner menu you're planning in your head and more attention to the wonders of nature that surround you. This time of change is such a gift as Mother Nature shows us her splendor. I pity the people who don't live in an area where the seasons change as they do here in my little corner of the world.
Can you remember pressing the gorgeous leaves in wax paper when you were little? That was always such a big deal for me in elementary school. I can still remember winning an art contest for a chalk drawing of a tree in all it's autumnal splendor. I just kept making dashes all over the branches of that tree with yellows & oranges & reds. And every year around this time I wonder what my mother did with that work of art. In my mind I can still see it as fabulous, but who know what my adult eyes would see today.
This is my favorite time of year. Possibly because my birthday is in October. Which reminds me: Happy Birthday Mom. Today you should be spending less time making pear preserves and more time outside enjoying your day. Not that she's going to read this. She doesn't own a computer and can hardly manage the TV remote. But when I called earlier with my birthday wishes she was still washing pears to prepare them for cooking. You should visit my mother sometime, particularly at this time of year. She has acres of grape vines, and I do mean acres. White scuppernongs, black scuppernongs, and concord grapes out front. So we get lots of homemade jellies and preserves, to say nothing of the 7 quart bags of ripe-to-perfection grapes she sent me home with last Friday night.
But I digress. Enjoy the coming season and it's cooler temperatures. It's for sure I will! But while you've viewing the world differently, remember to take the palette of colors you're seeing into your studio and let your art reflect that riot of color as well.

Remember my post last week where I'd been playing with stencils and inks? Barbara sent me this photo of her artwork inspired by my blog. Yeah Barb!!!! Send more photos! And that goes for everyone out there reading my posts. I'd love to see what you're working on these days, particularly if something I've said sends you to your art supplies for a bit of play.

I'd like to say that I'm playing this week but alas, I'm tweaking and packing and preparing for my travels. But the good news is that I'll be doing at least one demo over the weekend so I'll have show & tell when I return.