Painting the Autumn trees

 Paintings for sale

For a while it seemed as if Summer  was going to go on forever, but all good things come to an end and Autumn  has arrived .  

Autumn in the woods 

 

This year the trees and hedgerows are a mass of berries, nuts and seeds . Nature's colourful jewels . 

  They call it a   'mast year '.  My  paths on  recent walks have been covered in thousands of acorns !  It's made walking rather slippery underfoot and with so many falling I've been hit on the head a few times as well ! I think I need a hard hat ! ha ha! 

Acorns on the footpath 

It's been a long, long time since I have painted a still life composition but with such an abundance of wonderful subject matter I couldn't wait to get started .

I gathered plenty of bits and pieces so that I could try various arrangements . 

My colourful selection of Autumn fruits, nuts and berries 

  I put a selection into an old Sussex earthenware mug and the colours worked together really well . 

It took a long time to paint but I loved every minute and now I get to see the lovely colours of Autumn every day . 

 

Hedgerow Harvest 

"Hedgerow Harvest" Autumn still life painting 

                                                                         

 As usual the weather is rather unsettled which makes planning walks difficult.  I've explored some interesting old woodland where the streams run orange because of the iron ore in the soil 

Woodland stream coloured orange by iron ore 

I also met a vey friendly tree ! Just for a moment I thought it was going to speak to me . Thankfully it didn't as I'm not good at running theses days  

A vey friendly looking tree! 

 I've been on some great walks but It really needs sunshine to see the Autumn colours at their best. 

Fortunately I was blessed with one such day. A day when the sun breaks through the trees resulting in golden highlights ...magical ! 

                                                       "Autumn Alchemy"  

"Autumn Alchemy "  woodland  acrylic painting

                                                            

                                                   "Autumn Amble" 

Painting of horses along the bridleway 

             
                                                                     Paintings for sale

 More photos from my walks can be found here My inspiring walks

 

 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"