Sunday, November 14, 2010

Leaf Reflections


I just love Fall leaves - all of the colors and the opportunity to go out and 'collect' them on a walk. I've found myself picking up leaves again this fall and I've even noticed my husband picking up a few also - he set them out for me to paint. Thinking of leaves takes me back years to being a little kid and the times I raked leaves, jumped or stomped on piles of leaves, and the quiet contemplative walks where I couldn't resist the joy of picking up leaves. Its sort of like walking along the water's edge at the beach and feeling the irresistable urge to pick up sea treasures - shells or rocks that have washed up on shore.  Ah... the wonder of fall leaves.

While painting these leaves I became eager to find some wise words that I recently read in a magazine at the Dentist's office. The quote was sort of hiding in the middle of the magazine all by itself - it wasn't 'featured' in any article. It was just sitting by itself on the side of the page - sort of as filler. But, the words caught my attention and once I read them I couldn't get them out of my mind. Yes, I have many things I need to let go of ..... and each falling leaf makes me think about them. 

8 comments:

Cheryl Gebhart said...

Claire - this is a beautiful page - your leaves are exquisite - and I love the quote. Thank you for sharing!

lori vliegen said...

i love the way you've painted this, claire! and i especially love your analogy of letting go with each falling leaf.....fabulous way to think of that!!! xoxo, :))

Kathy A. Johnson said...

Beautiful painting and thought-provoking quote. Just right for the fall season.

chrissy said...

so claire...i HAVE to know...WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING WITH ALL OF YOUR AMAZING PIECES?
you are so talented and i just love every work that you ever post. i hope you have BIG plans for these beauties my friend...if not...i am going to personally FIND something BIG for you....(smile)
you are a great blog friend.
lots of love,
chrissy

Joanne said...

Beautiful sentiment, and leaf painting, here. I like the parallel between walking among leaves and along the shore. Both are so contemplative ...

Liou Duvinini said...

Interesante...

Cheryl Gebhart said...

Hey Claire, I just wanted to let you know that I liked this quote so much that I included it in my journal too. I put it on my blog with a credit to you and your blog, so if you're interested, you can see it here:

http://scrappycat.blogspot.com/2010/11/autumn_21.html

It should also go to Facebook, so you might see it there. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration.

Teresa said...

Beautiful, Claire. Love the simple elegance and beauty of this page. You do such lovely work.