I LOVE AUTUMN

Hi everyone!

This month we have been looking at working quotations into our Art. I had so many ideas for this and couldn’t settle on one. It’s been a busy month, it’s Summer! The kids are off School, my creative life as I know it has slowed down to a snail pace. It’s just the way it is, my babies come first.

However, we recently went to Edinburgh to visit family. It’s impossible to visit the city and not be inspired, there’s so much history! We went to the Museum of Childhood, a place I visited when I was young. It has a range of Children’s toys throughout the ages. In fact this is most likely where my interest in Dolls Houses began. There’s quite a few in there and they are full of detail.

I’m someone who’s always been drawn to layers, dimensions, details and miniatures. Another area of the museum that caught my eye was the dioramas. These were made up of 2D layers combined together to make a 3D scene.

When I got home again, I had totally forgot about these. Buried in the depths of my mind. Then one morning, early morning when I couldn’t get back to sleep, I was aware of the Sun coming through the window. Again I thought, oh great, it’s going to be another hot sunny day. If you haven’t heard any YouTube rants or seen any of my blog posts during Summer, you may not know that it is my least favourite season. I’m a night owl and the days are so long! It’s warm and uncomfortable. There are so many bugs, flies, moths, spiders!!!

I love Autumn. It’s got the last tiny bit of heat from Summer but overall the air is cool, crisp and fresh. Where the air feels close and stuffy in Summer, it clean and refreshing in Autumn. Then it turns and goes really cold, the big coat comes out!

Then there are the leaves, the colours, the shorter days, HALLOWEEN! The knowledge that Christmas is around the corner. It’s my all time favourite time of year, I get so giddy in Autumn.

With this all churning around my mind, burying my head and ignoring the sun, an idea came to me. To create an Autumnal 3D image with 2D elements. So basically it would work as a concertina, lying flat in my art journal until I gently lift the top layer.

It would be an Autumnal scene. I knew I wanted Pumpkins and Leaves, that was about it. I decided on three layers and the art journal page as the background.

In the end it was actually pretty simple. I took a 6x4 photograph and used that as my guide. All three top layers had a rectangle drawn onto them. I then treated it almost as a photo frame, decorating the edges with tree trunks, pumpkins, leaves and vines.

Once drawn and painted, I used a craft knife to cut away the negative space in the middle. I then completed the main page in my journal. I wanted the background to look like a woodland floor with a carpet of leaves.

I then messed around a bit with the layers to work out how I wanted them to look. Once happy, I found some scrap paper and folded 6 rectangles into a z-fold. These were then stuck between the layers (3 each side) to make the concertina/3D effect.

THEN I remembered it was supposed to have a quote. I got so excited creating the Autumnal scene that I forgot the prompt! It didn’t take me long to find a quote. I went with “Autumn paints in colours that Summer has never seen”. It’s so true, Autumn is rich with natural colour. Rich colours that make me feel whole and content.

I had so much fun making this month’s artwork.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kelly.