September 2024
making potions
One of my son Paul’s five-year-old friends got the other kids at the playground together to pick berries from a tree. She gathered them into the front of her t-shirt, holding it like a basket, and took them home to “make something.” All I could think was, “Ummmm, can I come?” I used to make “potions” in the side-yard of my parent’s house with all kinds of stuff from the yard. And these days, as an adult, I’m still mashing stuff together in an attempt to feel and share and express the things I’m experiencing.
I have wanted to paint pokeberries for a long time. Their colors are so vibrant, they border on unnatural. They are ripe in September and I finished a new painting of them at last. I caught photos of them swaying in September sunlight. The breeze has been warm, the season is changing… the whole world feels really magical to me recently.
This little painting is an attempt to communicate that. I want to paint so you can feel what I am sharing in the same way you can feel a shift in yourself when you hear a song that is significant.
I have also been missing my sketchbook, so I made little sketchbook-like sketches for you too. Each one is wildly different. They are all a little weird. It’s my adult version of playing potion.
Happy September! I love making mail for you.
-Liz
