Painting on Autopilot

I couldn't resist painting one more leaf. A couple of weeks ago I went for a walk and came home with a fistful of good looking leaves. It was a difficult process of elimination, but I had to make up my mind before all I had on hand was a dried up pile of leafy bits. Working on this watercolour turned into a kind of Zeno's paradox; I wanted to finish the painting but the more I looked at the leaf the more I had to keep painting. When this kind of thing happens and I feel myself getting too persnickety, I turn off whatever music I'm listening to and that helps switch off the painting autopilot so I can wrap it up.

Splendour in the Leaves

My favourite time of year is here. I love the fall, but it's just so short. Knowing it's brief is probably one of the things that makes me enjoy autumn all the more. All those bright and beautiful leaves will shortly blow away. Summer has its moments where you think it will never end. Fall, with its sharp breezes snapping at the sunshine, supplies no such illusions. And really, it's impossible to think of enjoying something beautiful and fleeting without thinking of newborns.

My baby is six weeks old and when I snuggle him in my arms, it's hard to imagine that he won't be so little for long. Trying to describe the wonder of an infant by just calling him 'little' is a wordsmithing injustice, but I'm too sleep deprived to put that feeling into words. Fall reminds me that each season and each stage has its particular splendour that needs to be savoured before it's gone. Which brings me to this watercolour painting: my tribute to fall.

As for the title in the bottom right, there's the obvious Canadian flag reference, but, while I worked on the painting, my patriotic tendencies were also helped along by listening to an interview with Paul Henderson on the 40th anniversary of the 1972 summit series win against Russia.