Celebrating Beginnings and Endings

This is my favorite time of the year. The end of summer and beginning of fall is a time of topaz, garnet and olivine - some of my favorite colors. It is the promise of the year having come to fruition, and the promise of rest to come. The only difficulty with that future promise is that in Minnesota, it is generally accompanied by cold temps and lots of snow . But right now the trees are just starting to awaken to the fact that they will turn soon (we usually peak right around Columbus Day - mid October to my overseas readers). I saw the first splashes of bright red leaves driving home from Renaissance Festival yesterday. Small patches of scarlet amidst the carpet of green. Stunning!

I will be taking a short vacation later in the week when my friend Sharon comes to visit. I'll post for the next few days and then play at the Fair and the Fest for several fun and exhausting days. For today - why not look around you for color in nature. Man is great at adding color (or subtracting it) to his surroundings, but nature is the teacher. Look carefully around you. Are there areas of great constrast that you can add to your work? What colors do you love and which do you dislike? Why? Answers to these questions can help you expand your artistic focus.