Collage & Change
I spent the morning creating the collage above from photographs I have taken over the years.
I love this time of the year, the slant of light and the lengthening shadows ~ such beauty ~ so delicious this golden light that spills through the tree branches just outside my window, turning the leaves into shimmering liquid gold.
During the fall, I find myself longing for the haystacks of my youth. The heavenly smell of hay mixed with the dampness of the earth. The early morning mist kissing my face and the exuberance of youth.
Over the years I find that I have come to value the fall of the year more and more ~ the day by day changes. The mellow richness and different textures that hone and shape us as we age. The laughter, the tears and everything else in between that makes each one of us unique and beautiful.
So I breathe in the ripeness of the world around me and embrace this inevitable change. The waxing and waning of the year.
Signs Of Autumn
The signs of Autumn have arrived. Brisk mornings, browning leaves rattling down the street carried by strong breezes and me with a cup of hot coffee in my hand watching the sun slowly rise over the mountain. What an incredibly beautiful day!
Quietly painting in the studio. Images & dreams I will always carry in my heart.
Sonoma Tree Line – Digital Painting – Watercolor & Impasto brushstrokes on layers – 8 x 10 inches
So many signs – Quiet Change
Ephemeral things – soft and fragile
Slower, Deeper – The Wheel of life Turns
To the Light of September
When you are already here
you appear to be only
a name that tells of you
whether you are present or not
and for now it seems as though
you are still summer
still the high familiar
endless summer
yet with a glint
of bronze in the chill mornings
and the late yellow petals
of the mullein fluttering
on the stalks that lean
over their broken
shadows across the cracked ground
but they all know
that you have come
the seed heads of the sage
the whispering birds
with nowhere to hide you
to keep you for later
you
who fly with them
you who are neither
before nor after
you who arrive
with blue plums
that have fallen through the night
perfect in the dew
– w.s. merwiin
Happy Equinox
Today is the Autumnal equinox. It’s officially Fall. Equinox literally means “equal night”, and from here on out the nights will grow longer as we head towards winter.
September is a month of changes, we’ve had our summer fun, the night’s grow cooler and it’s almost time to bid farewell to the warm weather.
It’s also the time of year where I often find myself reflecting over what I have gathered and seeded over the past months. I take stock of what the seasons have yielded so far, the hopes and dreams which were sown in the beginning of the year.
What have I harvested?
What wisdom have I garnered so far this year?
I also ask myself what lies fallow, uncultivated? However, I recognize that sometimes dreams need a period of incubation in order to come to fruition, and remind myself that all fields must lie fallow for a season or they become infertile, a wasteland.
Today I am thankful for all the blessings in my life, including family and friends.
Autumn Leaves
September
Goodbye August, Hello September. … I spent most of the day preparing four small canvases for a collage project, later I went outside to take a break and noticed all the fallen leaves on our lawn.
My husband was trimming some ivy which was overtaking our sycamore trees and he commented on all the dead leaves blowing down our street.
I love autumn! I love listening to the wind, watching the leaves turn into vibrant shades of rust and gold, smelling the dry leaves and cuddling up with a good book on cool evenings.
What autumn feels like to me…
“The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.”
– John Updike, September
Have a good night!