While camping near Grants, NM, we drove along some back roads up Mt. Taylor (elevation is about 11,000 feet). On the way up, we came across this glorious stand of aspens that has already changed color. I love the above image of the little dirt road forming a path thru the trees.
The above image is one of my favorites. I've always loved images of the barks of the trees with the tree leaves in the background. The golden color of the leaves really enhanced it.
Here's the aspen stand that we drove thru. We were pretty much at the top of Mt. Taylor and the day provided perfect weather for a lovely fall type photo.
Enjoy!
And, now, finally, the beauty at our feet. I was looking down so that I wouldn't trip over roots and rocks, and found these great images! The above image is what I think of as a still life. I didn't rearrange anything for that image. Nature just perfectly placed the three leaves.
This second image is of the wonderful red leaves that were all around us. The bright red leaves were on some very low trees boughs, and those in the background were off the trees and on the ground. I just love this image - I feel like if I put an appropriate quote toward the upper right corner, it would be a wonderful note card.
This last image is what I think of as an abstract. I just love the mixed colors of the leaves, and the various tree trunks and branches just create the abstract feeling. And, there's just a hint of the kiss of sunshine that acts as a bit of an accent to the piece. I just love it.Enjoy!
This set of images were those that I found at eye level, so to speak. I loved the look of the tree bark as a background for the glorious orange-red leaves in the image above.
For this image, the contrast of textures in the tree leaves and tree trunk is almost like opposites attracting for me. The leaves are flowing due to the breeze rippling thru them, and the roughness of the tree bark just seem as opposite as black and white.
This image is one of my favorites! I just loves the leaves against the dark tree trunks in the background. It almost seems like a bit of an autumn mosaic to me.Enjoy!
Last Monday, we walked the Fourth of July trail, and just enjoyed some New England-like colors! The above image is of the trail that we walked on - what a lovely way to spend the morning!
Isn't this color brilliant? We were sitting on a log, just catching our breath, when I looked up, I saw this incredible sight! This is really the color the leaves were - no enhancement on my part!!
This last "look up" image was taken as we were walking along. I just happened to look up to see what effect the sun would have on the leaves as it shined thru them, and this was the pretty result!Enjoy!
No, I'm not in New England! I'm on the dirt road headed toward the Fourth of July Canyon, about 45 min from where we live! The Fourth of July Canyon is the only place in New Mexico where you can see the oranges and reds of autumn! On Saturday, Jeff & I thought we might hike the trail there, and drove up there. This gorgeous tree was along the road leading to the campground where the trail starts. What brilliant color!
Here's another example of Mother Nature showing off! The perfect blue sky with wisps of white clouds, looking almost like that fabric one uses to make "ghosts" for Halloween! The remaining green trees set off the oranges of the changing leaves, too, don't you think?
I couldn't resist this image. A few years ago, there were some wildfires in the Manzano Mountains, which is where we were. The blackness of the standing dead trees really seem to accentuate the colors of the lower new growth. It's almost like a phoenix rising from the ashes, isn't it?Enjoy!
Here are a couple of ATCs I just finished for an art swap. The challenge of the swap was to use oil pastels to create the art. For these two, I used some colors, some warm (above) and some cool (below). I applied the oil pastel crayons and then heated them with my heat gun. I then used my fingers to sort of blend and meld the colors. When the colors dried, I applied some leaf stamps (above) and dragonfly stamp (below) to finish them off. Pretty simple, but I like the way they came out. My first attempt to work with oil pastels. I think I shall use them again!
Enjoy!!
