My husband and I just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in October. We have a tradition where we go away over Columbus Day weekend as it’s a long weekend (he’s a teacher and can’t always take time off), and as we weren’t sure what the world would be like, we decided to stay close to home and visit Ithaca, NY. While I was a little bummed we couldn’t do something bigger (we like to do bigger trips every 5 years), it ended up being an amazing weekend. We visited one of our favorite college students, ate so much delicious food, and visited a few waterfalls. The leaves were starting to change colors, so it was STUNNING.
One of the falls we visited had a huge, long, difficult trail that I especially was not prepped for. I almost quit multiple times going up, but with some encouragement from my husband and other hikers along the route, I did it! On the way back down, there was a spot along the path where the light on the newly colored leaves felt magical, and it inspired this piece…
Title: Autumnal Equinox
Size: 5″ x 7″ and framed with a mat
Medium: Watercolor and graphite
Favorite part: I am just super excited when I look at this piece that I made it happen. It was the first watercolor piece (with the exception of Boathouse illustrations, but they are different creative processes) I’ve done in a long time and it was a challenging piece with the layers of trees, leaves, and light. This piece makes me really, really happy and that’s my favorite thing about it.
Least favorite part: This is something I’m actually pushing myself to do with pieces I’m creating since doing this one, and it’s pushing contrast more, working to get my darks darker. My art has always had a soft quality to it, which I love, but I think it’s time to experiment a little more. I love how this one turned out, but part of me wants to know what it would look like if I made some of the trunks darker.
Product availability: The original painting is available in my Etsy shop here and prints will be available this week!
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