The Love of an Autumn Walk

Have you noticed how the light is changing now we’re moving through October? The dreaded darker mornings making us want to stay in bed, the bright colours transforming the trees and the early morning mists or are you looking out thinking ‘Mmm it looks a bit pants!’.

I love Autumn and really like to get out and about to make the most of it and spend many happy hours wandering around Bushy Park with our dog watching all the subtle changes take place and listening to the stags having a good old bellow to each other.

One day last week I opened the curtains and got very excited as it was thick fog with a milky sun giving everything a soft eerie feel and I headed out as soon as I could. It was gorgeous even though my trainers and the dog soaked up all the morning dew and were both dripping wet within the first 10 minutes. But it was lovely to take in some time to notice all the little things like just how many cobwebs there are everywhere that suddenly show up covered in their misty dew making the park look like it’s ready for Halloween and how everything sounds a little bit muffled or how the trees with their golden leaves glow against a grey sky.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do love a warm, sunny walk on a summer’s day too but it’s the days when it’s foggy or frosty or I’ve got caught in a downpour that really stay with me and that I find most inspiring.

Indeed, it was a day like this that inspired the painting ‘Morning Mist’ (pictured above) a few years ago. Painted in oil, it hangs in our living room as a little reminder of a favourite walk (and just in case you’re interested there are prints available here).

Another favourite pastime at this time of year is checking out freshly fallen leaves as I use them as a reference when I paint my clay leaves. I quite often come home with pockets full of them because a particular pattern or colour blend has caught my eye. Some of them are so weird they wouldn’t look real if I painted them like that, but I bring them home anyway as they’re so cool! I usually photograph them then before they begin to go crispy and lose their colour and have built up quite a good photographic reference library for when I’m ready to paint.

So, next time you’re looking out on the world thinking it looks a bit gloomy, take another look and get outside. Feel the drizzle on your face and let your hair get a bit frizzy. Bring some leaves home! You’ll feel better for it, honest!