November Scenes, a Poem, and a Workshop

Our pumpkins are on a fast downhill slide. Too ripe when they were carved, the squirrels are nibbling on the the soft Jack-o-lanterns. Dick's "snowman" looks like he has been lethally shot from behind and is on a slow pitch forward toward the deck.

I was glad to have a sunny day, because I needed some more reference photos for a painting class I'm taking this week two hundred miles north in Door County at the Peninsula Art School in Fish Creek. Shelby Keefe, an artist who paints mostly urban landscapes in oils with acrylic under paintings is the instructor. I've been collecting materials, painting in acrylic, and assembling reference photos in an effort to be prepared for three intensive days of painting.

http://www.peninsulaartschool.com/

This shot of an old brick barn on the Tallman House property appealed to me because of the lines, and the single fall leaf against a window.

I liked this photo of downtown Janesville for the geometric shapes and bright colors. You can't see it, but the Rock River runs along beside these old buildings. I will be back on Sunday, and I hope to have some interesting paintings to show.

If you'd like to see some of Shelby Keefe's work, check this link to her website:

http://www.studioshelby.com/

Just for fun, here's a poem from the 2009 Wisconsin Poets' Calendar to celebrate the start of November.

Before the Fall

by Alice D'Alessio

We brake against the earth's spin,

clutching this lush

and gaudy day; spiral

of hawks against the blue

and sumac spreading fire

in tallgrass prairie.

We gather apples

from the last tree --

lumpy rejects, they burst

with cidery exultation

on the tongue. Then

pause once more

by the beaver pond

where fresh-gnawed sticks

arrest the stream. As if by

peering deep into the murky

bowl we could unlock

time's secrets.

A single yellow leaf drops,

Somewhere the night begins.