My art group meets monthly, with a theme word to guide our efforts. September's word was "flight," followed by "impermanence" in October. I saw images of leaves for each word. Leaves certainly are in flight in Fall and do represent impermanence. I decided the heft of late fall, with winter looming, should be implied in the painting also.
I spent 10 minutes of a woods walk standing in a maple, beech, birch forest watching leaves fall. "Fresh" leaves were lifted by the wind, wandered about aimlessly in air before landing silently. Mature leaves with curled edges were whirling dervishes, spinning in circles with their stems straight up, acting as a rudder of sorts. This was the first time I had truly witnessed leaves falling. Such a gift! My original plan was to overwhelm the viewer with large, falling leaves. This early image has a large beech leaf in the upper left corner, which grows smaller in the end.
Oaks are such powerful trees. With Vermont's warmer winters, oaks may overtake maples. Creating the large oak leaves was easier than creating the maple. Oaks are definite and powerful. They don't try to be more than they are. Oaks are the late show, not fashionable like maples, but worth a look. Maples are three or four ideas at once. Maples are like me some days: Working in three or four rooms at once, very scattered. So I struggled a bit to finish the maple leaf.
The finished painting, Leaf Whirl, hints at distance between the leaves. Some are higher up and tumbling. Others are in your face. The sky is uncertain:
November in Vermont is much like Leaf Whirl. Clouds with hints of blue. Swirling winds. Morning frost followed by bright sunlight.
I spent 10 minutes of a woods walk standing in a maple, beech, birch forest watching leaves fall. "Fresh" leaves were lifted by the wind, wandered about aimlessly in air before landing silently. Mature leaves with curled edges were whirling dervishes, spinning in circles with their stems straight up, acting as a rudder of sorts. This was the first time I had truly witnessed leaves falling. Such a gift! My original plan was to overwhelm the viewer with large, falling leaves. This early image has a large beech leaf in the upper left corner, which grows smaller in the end.
Oaks are such powerful trees. With Vermont's warmer winters, oaks may overtake maples. Creating the large oak leaves was easier than creating the maple. Oaks are definite and powerful. They don't try to be more than they are. Oaks are the late show, not fashionable like maples, but worth a look. Maples are three or four ideas at once. Maples are like me some days: Working in three or four rooms at once, very scattered. So I struggled a bit to finish the maple leaf.
The finished painting, Leaf Whirl, hints at distance between the leaves. Some are higher up and tumbling. Others are in your face. The sky is uncertain:
November in Vermont is much like Leaf Whirl. Clouds with hints of blue. Swirling winds. Morning frost followed by bright sunlight.
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