{ Autumn Magic is a five lesson mini course of seasonal prompts and creative inspiration}
Every season has its magic…
As Autumn arrives, we bid farewell to summer, a transition that seems more poignant with each year that passes — we feel the loss, not just of the summer gone by, but of every summer before that. But in exchange for summer's warm, slow, carefree days, Autumn has glorious gifts in store.
We are blessed with golden days — often beginning with cloud-like early morning mist — and evenings when the sun still sparkles. There are late flowers in the gardens: dahlias, hydrangeas and sunflowers. Leaves begin to turn, from green to gold, bronze and ochre, fluttering and twisting down from the trees, carpeting the ground below with glowing colours that crunch underfoot.
This season is also associated with harvest — bountifulness and plenty — the autumn months have an air of celebration, as the year’s work comes to glorious fruition. Autumn is a season of contrasts: fruitfulness and inevitable decay, cheerful colours and muted tones, bright sunshine and heavy rain. Unexpected magic is often found when two differing elements collide — like a rainbow appearing where sunshine meets rain. Juxtaposition is one technique that we can use to capture a sense of autumn magic — highlighting autumnal contrasts with an image or some words.