Fall in New England Suburb

Every year, the fall foliage in Massachusetts surprises me. It’s been 17 years, and I still marvel at how beautiful my suburban town becomes. There’s always so much going on for the eye to see! The wide range of colors, their intensity, the light peeking through the leaves, the overlap of old, wooden posts, layers of black electrical wire cutting across everything…
I really wanted to paint it, but I read in a painting magazine that this was a tough theme to paint. Autumn colors are so intense leading artists to struggle balancing the bright red and orange colors. To approach this, I got the idea of using real leaves! I had accumulated so many with my daughters when they were younger; I glued some together as the background of my painting, then painted the electrical posts and wires on top. And then…. it still wasn’t perfect. After a lot of trial and error with the leaves, I was eventually able to find the right balance of colors I was looking for.
This is not a “regular” painting for me. I took a lot of risks, and I honestly wasn’t expecting people to like it. But to my surprise, my viewers responded very positively, and the painting even won a prize in a group exhibition! Are you amazed by something beautiful that happens every year?