Printmaker Notes 27

Whispers of Autumn

Fall is a glorious time here on Lookout Mountain and I find myself immersed in the colors and changing season. It is rather short lived and Winter seems to follow much too quickly. A beautiful time and the forest is getting ready to sleep, a rather melancholy season for me as well. Everything must rest though and the hope of Spring is always there.

We don’t get many of the spectacular colors that our northern neighbors get, but this year has been one of the best for Fall color in our area. Seems I was sketching the trees or capturing them with my camera daily, enjoying the rapid change and cooler temps.

We’ve had what I believe is a Mast year for our oaks. I have never seen so many acorns. Im going to have a lot of work pulling up baby oak trees out of my tiny flower garden and vegetable beds. They are already sending taproots deep into the soil to hold them thru the cold windy winter.

The deer, squirrels and bear are in heaven with all the food and I expect a baby boom this spring. I haven’t even had deer nibble in my Fall flower beds there are so many acorns available.

I’ve seen my two favorite large bucks, they were still in velvet at the time. These two bachelors hang out together thru the summer and early Fall and hide out when bow season starts. Im hoping they keep their wits about them and avoid the hunting that goes on seasonally.

I was inspired by the acorns and bucks and put together a sketch for a new linocut. I had the deer laying down as I ofter see them deep in the woods laying in the leaves for the day. I drew the oak leaves and acorns as a border around the deer as their lives really depend very much on this valuable source of food.

My first thought was to make a gradient print using yellow ochre on the outside and burnt umber for the deer and then blending the two together. I thought the print turned out nice and really enjoyed the variety of shades I got. Every print is definitely different than the next. Some are darker overall and some a lighter yellow along the border.

I also saw this image as a gold piece. I love the metallic gold ink for certain prints but it is very hard to clean up and will destroy the block very quickly, so I rarely used it. Its very hard to photograph too which keeps me from using it very often. Its so pretty in person.

Black is always my favorite. I love the contrast against the cream/white paper and it always shows detail so beautifully.

(Whispers of Autumn)

Beneath the Trees, the acorns fall

Soft echoes of the fading call

A Deer lies still where the shadows weep

The forest hums its song of sleep

Thankyou so much for taking your precious time to read, comment, share and following along on my art journey. Also many many thanks to those who have purchased work of mine. Such a blessing and i’m so grateful.

Wishing you all the best,

Meg

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