Sadly I seemed to have missed most of the Autumn colour this year. Day after day was shrouded in thick mist and fog ! Not the best weather for landscape painting . 

A lot of my time was spent watching the Magpies . They really stood out among the  glorious colours of the leaves on an old Beech tree that stands at the bottom of our garden . In this tree the Squirrels have built several dreys . There are three Squirrels and they spend  all their time running around everywhere gathering nuts etc . They just don't seem to stop !   Whilst they are out and about the cunning Magpies go and forage through the dreys , masses of leaves get thrown out in their quest to find all  the hidden food .  It amused me to see just how smart the Magpies are they became the subject of my latest painting .

                                                             "Magpie Morning " 

                           

Autumn woodland painting "Magpie Morning" 

    This is now available from my Artfinder shop https://www.artfinder.com/artist/paula-oakley/   

I also have a good selection of artworks for sale as prints, cards, bags etc Here

 Paintings for sale  

 It was mid July ....then I blinked and it's now November ! Ha ha, I don't know what happened but the time has flown by ! So what have I been up to ?

Well, although the Summer started off well the weather soon turned rather dreary for the rest of it.

 My walks have been shorter this year and I decided to do more exploring of the access land on The South Downs .  It turned out to be a good idea as I've been able to view the surroundings from different angles and discover more wonderful scenes to paint.  

The Hawthorn berries especially looked good  , bright splashes of vivid red lighting up the grassy slopes  as in my painting below. 

 "Beacon Blaze"

 

Summer ended and Autumn opened it's door . This is the time when bonfire night celebrations start and also time to dress up and enjoy the fun !  My costume is a celebration of Autumn . It was all about experimenting with different fabrics and paints .  

It was a brilliant evening, our village always puts on an amazing event and it was good to be part of it  . If you wish to know more then you can find out here Newick Bonfire Society

Next I took part in the "anonymous heART" project.  This was an art auction to raise funds for heart research . I contributed two 7" x 5" paintings and raised £320 which I was delighted with .

 It's now mid November  and I've been out and about in the woods , exploring new  wonderful paths around mid Sussex

and  painting....of course  :) 

"November Sun " Acrylic on canvas 24" x 18"