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The Artist’s
Almanac
October 2004
download and print this installment as
a PDF
(you will need Adobe Acrobat reader to open this file, you can
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it here free)
If you are away from
Tennessee, this is the time to be homesick.
Here, fickle Spring
comes babbling in, promising more than Summer can possibly deliver,
and is soon gone; Fall, by contrast, is a savory time of reward and
recollection, gliding slowly like a golden stream through September,
October and November into mid-December.
October is its zenith,
when nature holds its breath and shows us, “See; see what I can do.”
Spring’s colors were concentrated in the green-surrounded gardens;
now the very woods and pastures sort themselves into every
imaginable hue.
For the artist playing
with colors it is time to clear the bench: aureolian, lemon, orange,
terre verte, phthalo, turquoise, cerulean, ultramarine, rose,
alizarin, sienna, umber, ochres, violets of all shades, with magenta
and Paynes gray – all hit the ground running. Restraint is required,
knowing that only shadows allow us to see the light.
Finally, the artist
realizes that no combination can adequately capture the appeal
Autumn makes to all the senses – smell, taste, hearing, sight, and
touch.
Yet, in October he
must be outdoors, and try. For in December’s dark drizzles and
January’s snows, he may open a jar of Summer’s tomatoes or fig
preserves to taste the sun and look above his mantle to see the
welcome warmth of an autumn day.
Not for naught are
homecoming games held at this time. We peer into each other’s faces
looking for witness that we once were and still are. We recount and
sum up our stories with our fellow alums.
Children have no alums
and this month they don masks and pretend to be monsters to terrify
each other. An older culture to the south celebrates El Dia De
Muertos on which they welcome their departed loved ones to a
meal.
It is a lovely way of
recognizing that all life dies and is reborn. Gardeners know this
and examine next years swelling buds pushing the old leaves from the
branch. We wait now expectant as October’s symphony begins and moves
slowly towards its grand crescendo on All Hallows Eve.
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