My Experience of Autumn and Winter

In June, I made this stained art glass mosaic:
summer stained glass mosaic

It occurred to me after I made it that it represents my experience of Summer.

That recognition pointed me to my next stained art glass mosaic projects.

I decided the first step would be to draw a rough mock-up of my next projects, Autumn and Winter.

When I first thought about doing seasonal panels, I was thinking of Autumn in terms of yellows, reds, and oranges. I thought of Winter as black, grays, and whites. This was coming from my head.

Then I remembered that my husband Harold once told me about an artist who said that he didn’t try to draw something; he instead tried to draw his experience of that something.

So, in drawing my rough mock-ups of Autumn and Winter, I drew my experience of those seasons, which turned out to be very different colors than I had first imagined.

My experience of Autumn this year was of riotous color, especially greens and reds:
autumn stained glass mosaic mock-up

Here’s what Winter feels like to me:
winter stained-glass mosaic mock-up

These mock-up’s are small in comparison to the finished piece, and I don’t use them literally for design or glass placement. I use them just to get the feeling of the color palette. From there, when I start the piece, the glass selects itself and tells me where it goes in the piece; I literally feel my way. Also, I decided not to draw the border, but I will put borders in the final pieces.

Early Autumn Snow

No, fortunately we haven’t had any snow yet this year. I’m not quite ready for that yet.

This was a photo that I loved, so I drew it.

We have had a spectacular fall. I can’t remember when the colors have been so stunning. I’ve been taking a lot of pictures and hope that before the snow does fly, I’ll have some time to draw some of the autumn scenes from this year.

early autumn snow

Maple Leaf Meditation

I have a lot going on right now, so I’ve been doing Time Triage, with the primary criteria being Urgency and Necessity.

Unfortunately, my drawing time is what has been squeezed out. When I picked up this leaf, it was a brilliant yellow. By the time I got around to drawing it, it had transformed to the colors you see here.

maple leaf meditation