Skip Autumn, go straight to Winter

Pine cones, watercolor on paper, Jan Boyd Haring

That’s the way we do it in Colorado, and we like it! The aspens this year had so long to sugar before they got too cold that 20% of them turned red with happiness. They were spectacular, nestled in among their brothers and sisters dressed in their golden hues. Around our home, we watch for the scrub oak to begin turning in earnest as a sure sign that Winter is on its way. They create a colored tapestry across the foothills.

It’s time to put flower and veggie gardens to bed, rake up any leaves your not using for mulch, and, most importantly, gather every interesting dead plant specimen you can find. Always good to have inspiration in the cold dark months, and the sere, twisted, oddly textured specimens that are remnants of lush Summer are always so compelling.

Martynia parviflora, Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski

Of course, a true tell that Winter lurks just out of sight is the ASBA Conference, held every Fall around the country at different sites. This year, Boston was the place of choice. It was pretty close to spectacular! Scenery was beautiful, driving from Logan Airport out to Newton, MA, the nearby suburb where our hotel was located. There were tours of the area and Back Bay Boston, with historic homes, gardens, landmarks, libraries and schools.

Days of classes, lectures, workshops, demonstrations and activities had terrific breadth and depth in chosen subjects. Every meal, every walk in a hallway, every moment not scheduled was filled with friends, old and new, laughter and some great collegial sharing of techniques, concepts, solutions, problems and support.  We were all happily exhausted as we headed home early Sunday morning, dodging the worst of the blizzard that eventually stalled air traffic in New England. You can read all about the Conference when your ASBA Journal arrives in December.

Ephemera adds four websites for you to explore. Karla Beatty offers tips on plein aire painting. The Life of Flowers is a breath of fresh air that Barbara Mckee found. Calvin Nicholl’s site highlights his creation of flora and fauna paper sculptures. And there is a link to an inspiring graffiti artists creation in Montreal. If you have sites you’d like to share, ping me at rmsbartists@gmail.com. . Would love to see your favorites.

It’s time for Remembering Summer, our online exhibition of paintings from your summer experiences. We have a small but lovely selection. Go to http://rmsbaexhibitrememberingsummer.blogspot.com/to see what your confreres have been doing. If you simply forgot the date for submission, but have some wonderful summer images, don't despair.  I am happy to add more images until November 15.

Take a look at the new galleries listed for members. Jan Boyd Haring, Susan Rubin, Susi Olson, and Dorothy DePaulo have all provided information and images so that they can have their own gallery page. You can have one also. It can be as simple as a brief paragraph about you and your art, and three or four of your artworks, or as complete as the space allows. Take a moment to think what works for you, and then put your materials together, send them to me, and voila! You have a BlogSpot gallery.

Being scheduled so heavily in October, with classes to teach and classes to take, lots of travel and variable weather support, I have not been able to update the blog as often as I wish. However, I hope you find it informative, and you too can write an article for publication on the blog, or create images to share, or find websites that you think others will enjoy. Send your thoughts, inspirations and finds to rmsbartists@gmail.com.