Leaves, Leaves, Everywhere...

In the words of Carl Sagan, as you look across our yard, you'll see "billions and billions" of leaves during the Fall season.

Mostly, to start off with, it's the Maple, Birch and nut trees that drop their leaves around this time of year.

 Out back there are some Sassafras trees and small bushes that toss their leaves around with abandon.

The Pine trees way out back start pitching their cones in later summer, as the Oak trees start dropping those acorns, and it gets harder and harder to walk across the lawn without slipping and sliding on the nuts and cones.

Later in the season, seemingly the minute I've raked up the last leaf on the lawn, the Oaks start dropping their leaves.

Many hang on until the first snow so that I'm greeted in the Spring with the same activity...rake and toss, rake and toss.

One other use for the annual pile of soon-to-decay flora is to paint pictures with them.

So, here I present this year's Fall Collection.

Take a minute to write back and let me know what you think about them.

The ones I get onto paper will last long into the winter...maybe even for a bunch of years.

By hitting the word "comments" at the bottom of this post you can let me know your favorites or ask me questions, such as, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

 I have about 15 paintings represented here.

They are all watercolors, using just three primary colors...red, yellow and blue.

 Sometimes they come out on the first try.

Sometimes, they don't work at all and I end up throwing away a whole bunch of "mistakes."

Well, I don't actually get rid of them...they go into a big pile downstairs that my wife looks at saying, "Can't you just throw these away?"

My response is that I might see something in the painting later on that I'll like...can't take the chance of getting rid of a masterpiece!

 After about 15 years of painting these things, I do have quite the stash of saved mistakes.

Perhaps, someday, when historians reconstruct my studio to educate future artists they'll think they stumbled upon art treasures...might make a few bucks then!

Here and there you'll see:

Oak to the left.



Maple to the right.


Another Oak below to the left....




 And, another Oak here to the right.




My wife came up with the idea for the "Ghost Leaves"  below.


They take over our house just before Halloween...a fun leaf to have hanging around.  Maybe a little bit scary?

 Dark and spooky?

Surprised?

 

 Shocked?





                   A ghost, aghast?






The most scary thing of all?  I just looked out the window and another million leaves just dropped....looks like I've got a lot of painting to do!
                                 

A Brush With Fall

I like Fall.

I even like raking leaves...for a day or two.

We have more Oak trees in our yard than anyone else on the planet.  And, horticulturists will tell you, they hang on to many of their leaves until after the first snow.

That means that after I've grown sick and tired of raking and moving leaves to the woods in the Fall, for about six weeks straight, I am treated to the same program the following Spring.

After the last of the winter snows melts away, my yard is once again covered with leaves that were dragged down by snowfalls over the winter months. 

I start the Spring by cleaning up the Fall, year after year.  However, I have found one good artistic use for them.

Many years ago, I came up with some painting programs for first graders.  The school my boys attended had done away with art classes and I rounded up some friends to go into the classes to teach differing art forms. 

I decided to teach watercolor painting to 7 year old school-children, with much success.

Not only did they come up with some nice paintings, I discovered a way to capture Fall leaves on paper.  Now, I can't tell you all of my secrets, but I use paint, brushes, paper, and leaves.  Sometimes, I add waxed paper or paper towels to my tool kit and even a printing roller.

Those first graders? 

They used paint and brushes, too, and then they used their hands and their sleeves, they spilled paint on their pants and socks, and managed to smear it all over their faces and it even showed up on homework they turned in a week later.

More than once, they got some great effects on their foreheads...easy to do from their perspective, hard to frame.

At least it was watercolor, so the teacher, their parents and the janitor didn't hate me forever!

As for my ongoing attempts at home, the effects differ based on time of year (leaves used after the first frost are much better), the humidity of the day, and the texture of each leaf, and my mood.  Sometimes a trip to the winery makes the watercolor flow better!  That's another story.

As with all watercolors, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.  You can't go back and fix mistakes easily and I end up ripping up a lot of paper.

I am reminded of producing these annually.  My wife, who loves the leaf paintings, routinely collects interesting leaves and throws them at me by the score, but the other ingredient that's hard to express, to her and to others, is that I have to feel like painting.  Some years, Fall has come and gone and I haven't touched a single leaf for the purpose of capturing it before its demise.

Last year, my wife spotted a leaf that reminded her of a ghost.  "Try this one," only put a face on it. 

I stared at the leaf for weeks.  Not the same one, of course, as each few days when she discovered the wilting leave she'd bring in another.  Finally, I caved to the pressure and did the deed.

Colors weren't working for it.  Unlike a real "Fall" leaf, these "Ghost" leaves had to be dark and sinister.

Then, I felt that the eyes weren't strong....painted in after the watercolor was done, they faded into the picture.

My son, watching me with one of the set, said "Why don't you put holes in the leaves first?"  So, I did...worked much better.  The eyes "belong" to the ghost.  Wow, a family project!

So, this year, all of the trees delivered another two seasons worth of leaves.  And, my wife saw a new batch of ghosts.

Oh, and don't tell her.  When she's not home, I paint on the dining room table.  And, much like those first-graders, I tend to throw those brushes and that paint around a bit. 

Fortunately, my wife's eyesight isn't what it used to be so she rarely spots the colors of Fall on the furniture and walls.  If she does lean in to something for a closer look, "What's that spot on the wall?" I point quickly out the window and say, "Look at that leaf!  What do you think I could make that look like in a painting?"

Another close brush with Fall!

Our Halloween Holi-daze

Just this morning, as covered in our local paper, I reviewed the A-Z list of things trick 'n treaters should do to have a safe Halloween.

Based on what I read, I'm lucky I survived the Halloweens of my childhood and wonder what my mother was thinking when she sent us out there to possible doom!

Evidently, she didn't love us as much as she professed. I present some of today's reading as evidence:

"Always carry a flashlight:" We didn't own one, but if we did my mother wouldn't let us take it as we'd leave it on way too long and run down the batteries and then she wouldn't have it to use.

"Buy costumes that are made of flame retardant material:" My mother made our costumes. Out of paper. Then she'd paint on them with highly flammable spray paint and then add things to them, like the year I went as a matchbook and she glued (again highly flammable) actual matchsticks in neat rows, about thirty of them, up and down the front and back of the costume. What I remember her saying to me as I went out the door, worrying no doubt, was "Make sure you keep an eye on your brother and watch that he doesn't spill any of that kerosene on his shoes!" (Can't remember if he was a train conductor or a night watchman, but every time he swung that lantern around I got a dose of the stuff!)

"Costumes shouldn't drag on the ground:" Yeah, right! Did you read the part where my mother made our costumes? Well, she was always rushing at the last minute, and we got pinned into them. She was a great seamstress, until it came to Halloween. At that time of the year, it was grab what was available, make it look like something, and it was always too big and too long. Her fine instructions were, "Oh just tuck it in, stop whining, and be careful. If you fall and rip it I can't fix it and you won't have anything for next year and Santa won't bring you any presents." Oh, and after she got us all pinned in and ready to go out the door? Had to go to the bathroom! Did I mention "fine seamstress?" No zippers!

"Dont' cut across yards or driveways:" How are you supposed to get to all of the candy before everyone else does? And half of the fun was running into bushes and trees and tripping over other trick 'n treaters who were laying the driveway, run over not by cars but other trick 'n treaters!

"Jackets should be worn over costumes:" What? Hide the costume? Are you crazy? I didn't get made up to look like this to hide it. We'd rather risk pneumonia. I did take a jacket one year and only because it was snowing and I needed something to cover my candy bag so my collection wouldn't get ruined.

"Know how and where to contact your parents:" If you've read past posts, you know that my grandfather was always "in town" and on Halloween night they served free beer with paid shots...he was easy to find...and if my mother went out, the apartment was always unlocked so we, and anyone else who came along, could get in easily.

"Light your pumpkin with a battery powered light:" I just mentioned that my mother wouldn't let us use a flashlight if we had one and it glowed so much better with an actual candle. The only words from Mom, don't stand too close to that thing when you light it...I don't want you to ruin your costume!

"Only eat candy after your parents have checked it:" Upon return from a night of candy collecting we would hear the following: "Be careful taking that costume off. I worked on it for hours. Here, let me take the pins out. Stop twitching. I am not pricking you with the pins. Hold still. (We, "ouch, ouch, ouch"). Okay, go to bed." Off we'd go, pour out the contents on the bed, sort out the "good from the bad," also known as sugar drenched and chocolate as opposed to fruit. Eat about half of the bag, go to sleep, wake up in the morning and finish off the balance before school. Okay, when is the next Halloween?

"Quarters are a good thing to carry in case you need to call home:" Several points here. When I was a kid a call was a dime, but most likely there wasn't anyone there to answer. These days, with the plethora of cell phones, try to find a payphone! And I guarantee you the only person who's going to let you into their house to use their phone, whether you offer the quarter or not, are covered by two other A-Z tips: "Never enter a strangers home and Visit only houses that are lit." (I could always visit my grandfather...he was lit regularly!)

"Stay on sidewalks:" We didn't have sidewalks! So, we'd have to run between yards and driveways...otherwise, no trick 'n treating! Our instructions from Mom, "Try not to get yourself killed." Note who was to blame if we tried to call her from a dark or stranger laden house!

"Wear a glow in the dark watch:" As a kid, I didn't have a watch. My mother had one, but she wouldn't let us take it as we would lose it or break it and it most likely didn't glow in the dark anyway. We got, "Don't stay out too late. If I'm not here when you get home just wait until I get back to get those costumes off of you. I don't care if you have to go to the bathroom, wait! And, don't eat all of that candy in one sitting!" And words to me in particular, "Keep an eye on your brother and if you have some candy that he wants give it to him!" (That's another story).

So, as we set out to celebrate Halloween, have as much fun as you can within the A-Z parameters. We've done a little decorating, carved some pumpkins (I didn't use a knife, I swear), put out some decorations and candy (it's all organic and natural, I'm sure), and pleased my wife by taking some of those sassafras leaves off the back trees, that she's said remind her of ghosts, and made some "Ghost Leaf" paintings for her this year (see two of them posted here).

Happy Halloween, BOO!