My eyes feast on the bright colors of Fall, and I like to get out and paint them as often as possible. In winter I often meander through my fall paintings, remembering the day and the feeling when I did each, bringing back the fresh outlook and exuberant energy of this season.
Jennifer and I went to Vermont a couple of weeks ago and painted the gorgeous colors in the mountains and the freshly snowed upon peaks. In fact, when we first set out to paint and sat down in a dirt road, the mountains were clothed in fall colors. Within minutes we watched snow start to fall on the more distant peaks, and as we painted, the snow line moved closer. Finally it snowed and then sleeted on us, at which point we gathered our paints and headed for a coffee shop for hot drinks and warm bowls of soup.
That afternoon, in the warmth of our room, I painted another version of the morning’s view, using my morning painting as a reference.
In the evening I painted the view from our hotel room– silhouetted trees and mountains and dark reflections in a small pond.
The next morning we headed out to paint again, and since the temperature was in the low 30’s and it was windy, we painted from the relative warmth of the car.
We wrapped up our painting time by giving ourselves ten minutes to paint the same view.
Back in New York, I took Milo out tracking on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and while the track was aging, I painted the view across the parking lot from the car.
Most of the leaves are down now, but the maple by our stream still has its leaves, and in this afternoon’s sun, the color is stunning. Steve and I set up lawn chairs outside, and he read to me and we chatted while I painted the tree. It reminded me a bit of the Fall of 1981 when we were first dating and spent delightful hours outside walking and enjoying the crisp air and colors of Ithaca. A bit of Autumn color and memory to nourish my soul in the winter months ahead.
