Fall Leaves

The sky is free of the grey smoke and the air ash-free from the Northern California wildfires. After weeks of being cooped up inside and eager to feel the outdoors again, we decided to go on a Sunday drive to one of our favourite local haunts looking for autumn colours.

What we found, however, was a grim sight. Instead of trees blooming with ruby red and golden yellow leaves, we found burnt, straw-yellow leaves still clinging on to charred black trees. There were utility trucks everywhere, taking those trees down before another incoming red alert or high fire danger last Sunday.

This saddened me so much that after coming back home, I went through my photos and sketchbooks for signs of autumn. These photos were taken a few years back before the continuous wildfires started.

Autumn Red Leaf art print InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya

Capturing one of the leaves in my sketchbook as Autumn Red.

Autumn Yellow Maple Leaf art print InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya

I spotted autumn colours as early as August that year. Autumn Yellow Maple was another painting of a found leaf.

Falling Autumn Leaves art print InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya

I love being outside in the rain. Last year, during one such afternoon of raking leaves, I picked up a few treasures.

Falling Autumn Leaves art print InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya

Afterwards, I promptly drew them in my sketchbook.

Falling Autumn Leaves art print InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya

Purchase Falling Leaves

Falling Leaves will always be special to me, painted in my new atelier surrounded by the ones I love.

My wrist continues to heal, but it is still in a splint. Thank you for being so patient with my delayed replies and visit backs.

No matter what it has been like for you during the current times, I hope you are taking a little time to enjoy the outdoors. It is a precious thing that we often take for granted.

Until next time,
-Soma

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please pay a visit to some of them. They are a wonderful bunch!

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Purchase Quill Pen Pattern

I love to play with many things, and it all starts with sketching a concept. Even with all the electronic devices available at my fingertips, ink, pen and paper are still my favourite tools, and not just for painting. When I am playing a musical instrument, I quite often scribble on my sheet music too. I have a very difficult time passing up on pens and inks, resulting in a drawer full of ink bottles accompanied by wooden calligraphy pens, glass pens, fountain pens and quill pens.

One day, the sight of a quill pen and a bottle of ink on my table sparked the idea of a Make-Art-themed wall hanging. This quill pen and ink bottle is the first in a series of Make Art quilt patterns, available in my shop.

That also got me thinking about the myriad ways of making art. Many thanks to the makers of these blocks for letting me share some of them here.

Piano Quilt Pattern. Block made by carwashcat101 | Whims And Fancies

Piano by carwashcat101

Music is a very powerful and emotional form of art. It has definitely played a big part in my life, which prompted me to make a whole set of musical instrument quilt patterns. carwashcat101 shared these photos of the beautiful pianos she made from my pattern. She plans to make another one in green.

Music Notes Quilt Pattern. Block made by featheredneststudio | Whims And Fancies

Music Notes by featheredneststudio

Music Notes Quilt Pattern. Blocks made by craftyquilter | Whims And Fancies

Music Notes by craftyquilter

The musicians fill music notes with emotion as they bring the notes to life through their instruments. Music Notes was one of the very first patterns I wrote. featheredneststudio and craftyquilter made these wonderful blocks from it.

FREADOM Read Books Quilt Pattern. Wall hanging made by Elizabeth Plantz | Whims And Fancies

Freadom by Elizabeth Plantz

Where would I be without books! So much power tucked away between pages artfully written by the authors. Elizabeth Plantz, a member of the ALA biblioquilters, made these two wall hangings for an auction using the FREADOM pattern. That auction raised $620 in scholarship funds from the sale of the minis.

Bear Cub Quilt Pattern. Pillow made by Elisabeth | Whims And Fancies

Bear Cub by Elisabeth

Autumn Leaves Quilt Pattern. Table runner made by Elisabeth | Whims And Fancies

Leaves by Elisabeth

Nature herself makes art all the time, always unique, a constant source of inspiration. Elisabeth’s bear cub is definitely one of a kind, as is her Autumn Leaves table runner.

SLR Camera Quilt Pattern. Block made by scrapmaster01 | Whims And Fancies

Camera by scrapmaster01

SLR Camera Quilt Pattern. Wall hanging made by fabricker | Whims And Fancies

Camera by fabricker

I can’t even begin to express my feelings about photography in words. It is an intrinsic part of me now. As cameras have become more ubiquitous, we use them to make art everyday while capturing life around us. Scrapmaster01 and fabricker made these amazing cameras using my Fields On Camera pattern.

Make Art - Feather Quill quilt pattern with ink bottle | Whims And Fancies

Purchase Quill Pen Pattern

These examples of creativity got me excited about designing the Make Art quilt patterns. I am very happy with this first one. This quill pen quilt pattern makes a 6″ x 12″ block and is fairly easy to sew. It is now available in my shop. I think it would make a wonderful gift for an artist in your life.

All the other patterns are available in my shop.

Art is all around us, a force that magically moves us, and emotionally affects us. This pattern is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to share more with you.

-Soma

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please pay a visit to some of them, they are a lot of fun!