AUTUMN IN THE SOUTHWEST: Painting along the road, in the backyard and other locations in Colorado and Utah

 view of Ridgway Hill, from my backyard, October 2017

 south from Liza's horse barn, Ouray, October 2017

 Maynard Dixon House, Mt. Carmel, UT, October 2017

 Temple of Sinawava, Zion National Park, UT, October 2017

 along County Road 5 in Ridgway, CO

 pond on the Box Canyon Trail, Ghost Ranch, NM

 Mt. Wilson, Telluride, CO

view of Lone Cone from Horsefly Mesa, CO

Every year we say it's early, it's late, it's not going to be as good, it's been too dry,

that late frost in May killed it, it's been too wet! 

But each year if we wait and watch autumn takes our breath away, each and every time. 

Perhaps it's the contrast with the summer. 

In spring we experience the visual excitement of the trees as they, seemingly effortlessly, 

produce millions and millions of leaves that change our world from silence to abundance. 

We walk around in the green summer air feeling as if 

we are wrapped in a blanket filled with fresh leaves instead of downy feathers. 

Then in late August we notice a subtle shift in the light as the green fields start to turn golden. 

An easing out of summer until sometime in October we are stunned by the brilliant

color as once again the trees dye their leaves all the warm colors on my palette. 

Goodbye to all those greens.

It is wonderful to walk around in such exuberance, 

a gift from nature to us as we transition into the gray and white of winter.

Here is a group of recent paintings along with some of my favorites from years past. 

The fall is hanging on a bit longer, so I'm going out to paint.