I went leaf picking today. Fall in Minnesota is a beautiful thing that is shadowed by brutal winters, and hence gets very overlooked. Today was an exceptionally warm day for fall in Minnesota... so we brunched and coffeed near lake Calhoun, walked around the shops at Hennepin Ave., tried on some puffy winter parkas (we're still very afraid of mythical MN winters that have been heard of but never seen), and then drove back home.
A few leaves on our walk to the car jumped up at me because they were so vivid that you could never tell they were about to die. Leaves in the middle of spring can only dream of being as alive as they are in autumn. But since this is an illusion, I wanted to paint it before it fades away like illusions usually do.
I have a few more tri-colored leaves pressed in a book and will get to them in a bit.