Painting leaves in pen-and-wash is an autumn tradition for me now, as for lots of other people...Maybe even, almost a cliché, for some.
And yet, I like how this turned out. (Particularly as I genuinely did paint it in the 20 minutes I had whilst hubby was in the shower...I'll be trying speed painting again! :-).
With this leaf though, there's also a story.
Now, don't get me wrong, I *love* autumn colours, and have always understood we're lucky to get them.
But this year, that's taken on a whole new dimension.
For, like many people, once the leaves had got into the, "blowing into the house, leaf piles in the street, "Will the pavement turn leaf-sludgy?,"" stage, I was getting tempted to moan along with everyone else, and to bemoan the onset of winter that fallen leaves herald.
Then, a chance remark by a Facebook friend changed everything.
She lives in a very different part of the world. So different in fact, that she had to go on a day-long hunt for any autumn colour at all, and (rightly!) celebrated that she found two gorgeous leaves in the process.
After reading that, I didn't even notice that it was freezing cold, drizzle-drenched and blowing a gale the next time I went outdoors. Instead, all I could see (and actually *see*, this time) were trees and streets cloaked and carpeted in russet, burnt orange and gold...And all I could do was to marvel, as if for the first time, at how amazing that really was (and *is*).
And so, I painted one of the next leaves to blow through our door, out of 100% gratitude...
More tomorrow.
Update and PS: I've wonderful person and artist whose original comments inspired this piece supported it enthusiastically, so I'm more than delighted to be able to link to her own wonderful work as a thank you.
