I’ve always been a little different than the other kids around me growing up. I was drawn to darker things, richer things. Black was my favorite color, even though I proclaimed to adore blue. I was into Batman, not Superman. The Silver Surfer was full of angst and questions and love and these things appealed to me. Even musically I gravitated to the darker tones and minor keys. Darker still, I became a drummer.

Autumn is a special time for me. It’s a time of renewal, of enrichment, of in-gathering and hearthside introspection. While others get a little down at the loss of Summer weather and the shorter days, I come alive and relish the lingering twilight and the subtle signs of foreboding storms.

Autumn is a time for learning. For an artist, it’s a season of sharpened observations, to study the shift of color and light, golden hour sun that lasts all day and the way a crisp full moon changes forms and leaves dense black shadows. Ideas drip down my chin like juice from a fresh apple.

And Hallowe’en. I love everything about Hallowe’en. (Even the old spelling.) I love it’s creative spirit and the creativity it engenders in so many artists. My artists. My people.

The Autumn people, as Ray Bradbury once wrote. “…that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and rivers are mist; where noons go quickly and twilights linger, and mid-nights stay. That country composed of the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain…”

As October drifts away, I thought I’d slide in one more post with Hallowe’en images. I plan to turn a few into paintings, and some already are. In ancient days, Christmas was the time for scary lighthearted things and scary serious things, especially ghost stories. But that tradition has shifted to the Hallowe’en season. Makes sense.

If you’re anything like me, perhaps these pieces will inspire.