Autumn fun ...

Autumn Scarecrow, watercolor, © Nancy Van Blaricom

We've had some beautiful weather here in the northwest with lovely yellow and gold leaves from the maple trees falling all around us.  It seems fitting that I should re-post this painting from quite a few years ago when I was mostly painting with watercolor.

Have a great Halloween.

About a year ago ...

Mini Pumpkin, 6" x 8", oil on panel, © Nancy Van Blaricom

My husband and I spent our morning raking up maple leaves from around our property.  It was a beautiful sunny day and just seeing all the pretty colors reminded me of a painting I did about a year ago.

What I really like about this small painting is the orange and blue together. Don't you think they are great compliments to each other?

Its just around the corner ...

Can you believe its already the middle of October? 

Lately I've been working towards having everything ready, well in advance, for our local holiday bazaar ...  each year its scheduled for the week-end after Thanksgiving and even though I know this I usually find that I'm still framing pieces or stuffing note cards in clear envelopes at midnight the night before. This year I've decided everything will be ready well in advance ... So far, so good. 

Each year I like to come up with something in a couple of different price range so that most anyone can afford an original piece of art for their home.  Last year I painted shells onto small 3.5" x 3.5" x 1/2" woodblocks. Each shell I painted I had found on our local beach, so each were very original.  

This year I'm working on a couple of original oil paintings I hope to finish for the show as well as another little item that might be of interest to some.  But ... until I know if it will be a good idea or not ... shhh, I'll have to keep it a secret.

Block shell paintings, oil on wood block, 3.5" x 3.5" x 1/2"

 © Nancy Van Blaricom 

Here are 4 of the 20 shell paintings I've finished for the bazaar.
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On another note: Our weather has been beautiful the last couple of days & is promising to be great the rest of this week. Our local maple trees are gorgeous. Today was so pretty we decided to go to Theler Wetlands, about 24 miles away.  It was a beautiful sunny day.

These photos were taken a few years ago when we took the same trail as today.  Isn't it beautiful?

I hope your autumn weather is as good.

 Low tide in the wetland.

Beautiful colors in the marsh ... as well as a 

Grea Blue Heron sunning himself ... in the lower left hand corner.