October 16, 2011

Paint them before they fall

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.

6 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. froggy--I am still holding out on buying a reader. I can appreciate their convenience though especially in a situation like you describe.

    Recently Ikea changed the name of their Billy shelves from 'bookshelves' to 'shelves'. Perish the thought that paper books ever do disappear.

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  3. love the leaf and the paper is really fantastic as geninne discovered when she was here

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  4. Margie--Thanks! And yes, the Saint-Armand paper is really lovely.

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  5. I'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.

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  6. harbourmaster--Thank you! I like dark-leaved trees too as they provide nice contrast with all of the others.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog and to leave me a comment. I love reading them. -- Kathleen

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