Autumn Equinox

Transit of Venus 12 X 12

Autumn is here; I can feel it in the twilight crispness of the air, as I sit beside the pond at the end of the day. I can see it under the bright harvest moon that lights the way for the bunnies to eat our newly planted fall garden.



For me, last week was a time of gathering and celebrating. On Friday I attended the 20th Anniversary Reception at the Pryor Fine Art on Bennett Street. The show featured the work of Susie Pryor and doubled as a benefit for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. A portion of the proceeds from pre-sales and the first week’s sales were donated to CHCOA. Susie, whose work you can see here is one of my very favorite contemporary American artists. Her new paintings, which incorporate broad brush strokes and lush palette knife work, depicts a variety of subjects including children, coastal scenes, and still lifes. She manages to capture that world between abstraction and reality that I so love. This is one of my favorites of her new paintings.



Make a Wish 60 X 48

And then, on Saturday, I treated myself to an all-day workshop with Melissa Payne Baker at the Sandy Springs School of Art. I had been a fan Melissa's bold colorful abstracts for some time, and, when she announced that she would be teaching a class called "Loosen Up With Melissa Payne Baker," I knew I had to go. I spent the day watching Melissa paint, learning how to use a palette knife, and just generally having fun with the other talented women in the class. You can see Melissa giving us a demonstration below:




and here's one of her new pieces:


Paysage II 30 X 40

On Sunday, I spent the day working on the two large pieces that I started in class, and I finished the small one that you see at the top of this post. Actually, that one was done at the last minute, before my son's birthday celebration Sunday night. I realized that I'd been so busy all weekend that I hadn't made him a card, like I usually do, so, inspired by the moon and the magic of Melissa and Susie, I painted this for him.


Autumn is a season of ripe beauty, a season of myriad colors, a season of abundance and balance and gratitude. Autumn is


"A brimming of golden sweetness in your dreaming eyes
Fills the world with the beauty of a realm divine,
The sun's last rays serenely trickle from your purple skies:
I send my love and song and call your blessings mine."

Abhinabha