Fall Artwork – Let’s Be Cheerful Please!
There’s no question this new fall artwork was meant to be cheerful and uplifting. I think most of the time my artwork leans in this direction anyway. I suspect anyone who has followed me for awhile is used to bright colors more so than sombre shades. But I can equally say in a dark year, a lot of these bright artworks have been therapeutic. As many of you know, it was around this time last year that my father passed away after months of trying to recover from his stroke. Our attempt to go on without him has had its bumps as can be expected. But when I look back over the year from an art perspective, I think it’s been mostly positive.
As we move into the middle of December, this Fall artwork will probably be among the last works of this year. I don’t know in raw numbers how one year compares to a next, but I definitely think I had a good year in art terms. There was a mix of nostalgia in there, no doubt. And that’s probably not too surprising. But at the core of it, when I look back on my work, almost all of it falls into a cheerful category like this bold and bright abstract rendition of autumn leaves swirling into a blue autumn sky. Looking at my colorful fall artwork now I wonder if there’s an unconscious symbolism in the leaves letting go, but if there was, it wasn’t planned. Perhaps it’s like looking for shapes in the cloud, maybe I’m searching for meaning when the meaning was simply that I love bright fall colors! What do you think?
While emotionally it may have been a rough year, sales wise it was a strong year. I added several strong new prints to my catalog including much of my Auburn artwork. And I also found an abiding love for rainy reflections as you can see in some of my recent rain art. While rain art in general wasn’t new to me, I definitely hit my stride with it and am sure I’ll be adding more of those in the year ahead as I love doing them and they seem to have an audience. For those of you who have helped make this possible whether buying prints or sharing my work with others, I truly appreciate it! While print sales have been strong, I’ve had a few other successes in the art arena this year. I guess I can be thankful in what could have been a dark year, there has been a lot of light through the clouds.
And if you ask me that’s what this fall artwork is really about. It’s about trying to be cheerful and making the most of our time. Sometimes it’s more work than others, but it’s worth it. Whether it’s doing something that makes you smile or surrounding yourself with art that makes you smile, be good to yourself.
