I don’t usually title landscape paintings with names like Autumnal Solitude.  I’d rather let the viewer imagine their own title.  However for the sake of clarity it’s easier to refer to Autumnal Solitude by name rather than, “The square one with the orangey tree”.

Sometimes I make things that don’t necessarily go in Ollie’s books like landscape paintings.

Sometimes the painting tells the story itself.

This scene is of a blustery October day.  The chilly wind is blowing the rusting leaves off the shivering branches of a couple of trees minding their own business in some faraway field.  Summer and the time of lying in the shade of these trees is over, autumn is here and soon it will be winter, a time for snow ball fights under these same trees.  For now the sky is cloudy and gray with a threat of cold rain.

I happen to like days like these.  They make me feel like I can get things done without feeling guilty that I’m not out enjoying the weather.  Even when you love the work of painting and writing it’s never fun to be hard at work when you hear the sounds of people at play outside your window.  When it rains there’s nothing but the sound of people not wanting to get wet.  We call that silence.

This painting reminds me of that silence.  It reminds me of a time for comfy sweaters and time to think and make silly lists of grand dreams and yet-to-be’s.  Maybe this is a view from my current window or the window of some future home.  Could also be the view from a park bench somewhere.  I could sit on that bench and wait for the birds to come and ask for food or for someone to share lunch.

Maybe I’m waiting for a contact to deliver some top secret papers.

Maybe this is the bench where the plans for the Death Star were supposed to be exchanged.

Or maybe it’s just a tree in a field on a chilly rainy day.

Whatever it is is up to you, the viewer.

Sometimes the painting tells the story itself.

What do you see?

Technical details: acrylic on 10×10 inch canvas.  rendered with brush and palate knives.