October.

October is the month for painted leaves.... 
As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, 
so the year near its setting. 
October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight. 

Henry David Thoreau, Autumnal Tints

Collecting and painting autumn leaves is always a winner with my students. For me it's a therapeutic activity - I love capturing the elegant decay of the leaves. I often collect them when out riding - I can reach a lot higher from the back of a horse! Recently I ran a workshop with children at a local event and they loved painting leaves and we mounted them into little gift cards for them to take home.

This morning the class painted hydrangeas, using the 'negative' painting technique, this has been very popular lately. This afternoon in class, we studied butternut squash and pomegranates in a range of styles...

After class I walked Yellow. This is today's view from the west end of the lane that runs in front of the house.A gloomy sky broods over the valley, you can see the Paimpont hills in the far distance and if you look really carefully you can see the silhouettes of Mr and Mrs P through a gap in the trees right of centre. They are down by the river until it rises with winter rains.