Where I'm Finding Inspiration this Fall

I love the shift in the seasons. I frequently say—to the no one who asked—that I couldn't live without all four seasons. But there's something different about summer and fall. There's a point in the shift to summer and again to fall that I feel like I'm coming back to myself. Like oh right yes, this is me. I was just a tourist before, it was fun, sure, but now I'm home. And it feels like I’m split into two different people, twins so very similar yet entirely separate.

When the summer starts calling, I’d give just about anything to be on a boat or in a cozy lake cabin or standing on a beach. Barefoot, air dried hair and flowing dresses or jean shorts and baseball caps. I miss our days at the pool long before they’re even gone and try to soak up every bit of the cicadas hum. 

But it's the beginning of September—the slant of the sunlight a little more golden, the late summer flowers, purple coneflower, black eyed susans, are starting to disappear. We know cooler temps are on the horizon, even as we melt in the heatwave. Summer me is fading. I'm longing for fields of native grasses, horseback riding, wearing my boots in ordinary life and swapping seltzers at the pool for a beer and a football game, looking for houses (we won’t buy) on some land. 

This fall self has started to look a lot like my father's daughter. I bucked (pun intended) against a lot of things that fell under his outdoor and western interests, longed to be barefoot on a beach à la The O.C. and Laguna Beach, then looked for life as a city mouse. But those things I didn’t want before, the boots and the wide open prairies and western skies, have called to me a lot more over the past few years. Maybe it's what happens as you get older, maybe it's having kids of my own or the anxiety meds, or maybe my interests have just shifted. 

I’m a Gemini, I’ve always lived with what feels like two sides of my personality who can’t quite figure out how to merge. Preppy v. boho. Type A, straight laced, uptight, study hard, go to law school, climb the ladder v. type B, messy art space, it’ll be fine. A homebody who revels in cancelled plans and never wants to leave v. let’s try every new restaurant and stay out on the town. To name a few.

Through my painting, I get to explore this, these aspects of my personality, and drop into different worlds. Really dive into what I’m interested in at any given moment. Over time I’m finding that these twin personalities and my work feel more cohesive, a lot more connected than they sometimes seem, and more distinctly me. 

Right now my inspiration is leaning western. Standing under wide skies and looking out at  rolling prairies. I love to collect a mood board and share those images from Pinterest on my social media, but here are some images from my own camera roll that are setting the tone for my work this fall.