Painting Goodbye to Autumn

A few weeks ago, I started a painting of two maple leaves and a key. When I went back to work on it yesterday, I found that the leaves had curled up in my absence. I don't blame them. Autumn naps are lovely.

Curly or not, they had still retained enough colour to use them as references. I put the final touches on my painting this morning.

I love painting leaves so much. They are like tiny quilts full of different colours and textures. I love the challenge of trying to replicate all of the hues, veins and crinkles.

I have tried a lot of different watercolour papers in the past couple of years. For this painting, I went back to a paper I used to use quite often: Saunders Waterford 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. I had forgotten how nice it was to work with.

A detail from my painting

It is freezing cold here right now. Time for scarves, boots and gloves. I always hold out until the very last moment for hats. :) We have had snowflakes in the air but not on the ground so far. There's a small reprieve from the wintry weather ahead though. Temperatures are supposed to be quite mild over the weekend, so I have lucked out as far as weather for planting bulbs goes. Good thing too as I have over 300 of them to plant. We have to put our garden furniture away too.

Here are some photos from Instagram (a work-in-progress photo, a leaf collection from a walk and the finished painting):

I'll leave you with a photo of my studio assistant this morning. He'll have you know that inspiring someone as they paint autumn leaves is exhausting work!

Garden Lullaby

This week, I gave myself a gift. I took a break from my work and spent a day and a half in the garden getting it ready for winter. I often say "I need my garden and my garden needs me". It is without a doubt a reciprocal relationship. Whatever I give, I receive back in beauty, a rested mind and restored spirit.

I was lucky that the weather was unseasonably mild. It was perfect for gardening. There have been plenty of years when I have done end-of-season work while freezing. There have also been years where I have been completely surprised by early snow and have had to leave the garden in its messy state until spring.

I removed annuals from pots and flower beds. I trimmed a few perennials although I leave most of them intact until spring to serve as bird food and winter interest. I moved a few perennials to better places and cleaned up the vegetable garden. I was happy to find a small patch of violas still in bloom in the center of the veggie patch.

I always have mixed emotions at this time of year. There is sadness that the growing season has come to a close. At the same time, I feel a sense of peace with the quiet state of the garden and a sense of hope at what the next year will bring.

Some of the trees and shrubs are completely bare. Others still have bits of color.

Yesterday's sunshine provided me with a late-season encounter with a garden friend. A little ladybug took a tour around my garden-gloved hand before taking off.

Throughout, I worked under the thoughtful gaze of my garden supervisor.

I am hoping that the good weather holds out a bit longer. I have a big order of spring bulbs on its way to me. Their shipment was delayed and I won't be able to plant them until next week.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that they arrive before temperatures plunge!

Recipe Cards

Recently, I had to prepare for an annual craft show that I do.  I always find the preparations to be stressful. Figuring out how much inventory to create can be very challenging. One good thing about getting ready for a show is that it spurs my creativity--it lights a fire underneath me. Yes, I work best with deadlines.

In the days before this year's show, I came up with the idea of creating recipe cards with my watercolor paintings. I realized that I had enough food images to create a set of ten cards.

I love how they've turned out. I printed them on the same luxurious stock that I do my note cards on. The 4 x 6 inch cards are printed on both sides with light lines to guide your handwriting. Each set includes all ten images. The image is repeated on the back of each card at the bottom. You can see them in my shop here.

They come in a nice little package that would be perfect for a gift or stocking stuffer. I know that lots of people keep their recipes on their computers now. But I also know that there are still many who enjoy the personal touch of handwriting when sharing a recipe with a friend or family member.

You know the saying 'Necessity is the mother of invention'? Initially I was going to insert the cards in small sleeves that I have but they didn't quite fit. I didn't want to buy additional supplies just before the show so I figured out a way to put them in the bigger sleeves I use for my 5 x 7 cards. I printed a backing card that shows all ten images. I secured the cards with a paper band and then I punched a hole near the top and tied it with some jute so that the cards would stay at the bottom of the package. In the end, I think I ended up with something much nicer than what I originally intended. Here's to motivating stress and the resulting creativity! :)

I have some new cards and prints that I did for the show that I will be adding to my shop very soon as well. Happy November! ❤