It has been rainy and very windy here this weekend. The leaves are falling in huge numbers. Last night I plucked a leaf from my Schubert chokecherry tree and painted it in my loft. I love painting natural things, especially when holding them in my hand. You gain a special intimacy with the object as you are painting it.
This is a tree I enjoy very much as it does things in a different way. The leaves start out a fresh springy green and by June or so they darken to red. When my youngest daughter was about four, I remember her looking at the tree and asking me in June "Is it already autumn, Mama?". In the fall, the leaves darken to a deep wine colour. The birds love this tree. In midsummer, they eat the little chokecherries on it. It's also where I hang a couple of my birdfeeders.
I have used beautiful
Saint-Armand watercolour paper made in Montreal for this painting. I just love the four deckle edges. I am a paper lover whether in books or art. I would be a very unhappy person in a paperless world.
Also a paper lover. My Dad and Grandfather worked in the paper industry. I did buy a Nook because of the accessibility of always having a new book seconds away (stuck in a house being renovated and having to be on site for months and months and months) but am so not sold on it. Will be for emergencies only.
ReplyDeletefroggy--I am still holding out on buying a reader. I can appreciate their convenience though especially in a situation like you describe.
ReplyDeleteRecently Ikea changed the name of their Billy shelves from 'bookshelves' to 'shelves'. Perish the thought that paper books ever do disappear.
love the leaf and the paper is really fantastic as geninne discovered when she was here
ReplyDeleteMargie--Thanks! And yes, the Saint-Armand paper is really lovely.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved these dark plum-leaved trees! My parents had one in their backyard (in Perth, Australia), I wonder if it's the same sort? You've captured the leaf perfectly.
ReplyDeleteharbourmaster--Thank you! I like dark-leaved trees too as they provide nice contrast with all of the others.
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