Living in Season, but Painting Ahead...

I find there's something very close to sacred when we live "in season", making a mindful effort to remain in sync with Mother Nature, tuning not only our minds, but our bodies to the wheel of the year...

Once upon a time (before the age of the thermostat and the supermarket) our food and our activities reflected the changing seasons. Gardening in the summer, harvesting and preserving in autumn, resting in winter, and planting again in spring.

Summers were spent cooking outdoors, sipping lemonade on the front porch, running through lawn sprinklers, or swimming at the beach, or a nearby lake or creek. Winters were spent sledding, building snowmen, cooking hearty meals, telling stories, reading good books and snuggling in front of the wood stove or fireplace.

I count myself fortunate to live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where the seasons are still very much a part of the culture, and try very hard to embrace each season for the blessings it has to offer. Today, for instance, will find me roasting batch of butternut squash (for soup later in the week) and planting yet another pot of mums in the front yard....

But it will also find me painting (gasp!) a Christmas piece, along with a couple of autumn commissions. ;)

Since people decorate their homes well before the actual arrival of the holiday or season, it means holiday artists must stay a step ahead. Winter pieces in autumn, spring pieces in winter, and so on. I suppose it would be easy to be thrown off-kilter by this, but I try to see it as a preview - a little inspiration and anticipation of what's to come.

To that end, I've just listed the first holiday box of the year on Etsy - Peppermint Polly, a little angel mouse...

A little early perhaps, but I'm hoping others will be anticipating the season right along with me, and she'll find a good home.

In the meantime, I'm off to work on the last of the Halloween commissions, as I wish you a happy and mindful autumn! May you enjoy all her blessings. :)

♥ Carolee