Hi there, friends! I can’t believe it’s already the middle of September, but here we are! I have been busy– as usual– with both art and home life. Both my kids are doing virtual learning, and truth be told it’s been a bit of an gauntlet with classes not working, things being added continuously, or things just suddenly disappearing….you literally don’t know what the next day will hold. But I’m hoping it all settles down soon, and we can get into a groove.

One groove that I’m always willing to get into is autumn art! My latest painting is called “Phoebe’s Harvest” and you can find her up above! I thought she turned out pretty sweet. I wanted this little painting to include all the things I love about autumn in New England, and I decided to give her a seaside view. I’ve always loved the movie Practical Magic and especially loved that the old witchy, kooky aunts lived in an old house by the sea (#goals, right?!) so I decided this little witch should live seaside as well! The original paintings has sold, but I do have prints– and notecards! You can find those in my etsy shop!

Also in my etsy shop are plenty of copies of my autumn project booklet, “Frost on the Pumpkin!” I am LOVING getting your messages about how much you’re enjoying it and the projects you’re working on or have completed! I LOVE that we can do these fun little things together….and what a thrill that these things that I made in isolation during this strange pandemic are now being shared (safely and germ-free, lol) with all of you across the country— or continent now, I just mailed one out to Canada the other day!

I also have a couple of original folk art houses available in my etsy shop, if you’d like a bit of folk art decor for the season:

Of course, you know me, I’m already getting the autumn and a bit of the Halloween decor out since we’ve entered September…..a couple of weeks ago, my husband took the kids to their aunt’s house for the last swim of the season and I went crazy cleaning, dusting, putting things away and dragging things out….some of my very favorite pieces— like my Nicol Sayre halloween dolls (I collect her santas too!) came out and have pride of place on my mantel.

That cute pottery halloween ghost plate came from Turtle Creek Potters with David T. Smith and that Thankful cross stitch— why, you can make your own from the pattern in my autumn booklet! Now we just need the weather to start to cooperate and cool down, the leaves to begin to change, and autumn to fully arrive….

Til then, we will be largely at home, doing our best and trying to navigate virtual learning in the dining room. This is our little ‘first grade corner’, and I think it’s pretty cozy:

We read a LOT of Paddington, as that’s his favorite– and we even have a Paddington Bear, brought back to us from London by friends who were there just before the world went mad and everything shut down. Thank goodness Paddington made it, right?! We are working on the beginning of reading, and it’s a thrill to see words coming alive for him. And just to the side, at the dining room table, we’ve got 8th grade junior high going on…..she’s studying US History and you know I’ve got lots of commentary about that 😉 we are currently reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond aloud together and we’re enjoying it. I even fed those kids blueberry corncakes for breakfast yesterday, since they feature in the book. They tolerate me 😉 Mom always loves a theme and a project…

Well, I will come back again soon and share more, and I hope you are safe and well! Hang tight, and of course–

Take Joy!
H