FALL(ing) In Love with Art

When I was putting together this Pinterest board, I was nervous about finding art pieces that represented the season of fall because my concept of the season seemed different than the norm. I wanted the board to represent the beauty and diversity of fall, and I wanted to show how different people, based on so many factors, can experience a season in a different way. No one fall is more fall-y than any other. For me, growing up in north Florida, fall didn’t really exist. There’s actually a joke that goes Florida has two seasons--summer and January. We didn’t go apple picking or carve pumpkins. My parents divorced when I was ten, and when I was sixteen, my mom and stepdad moved to the Pacific Northwest for a new job opportunity. As a teenager, my falls were spent with my dad, aunt, and grandma. We didn’t play football in the front yard as the leaves fell, and we didn’t cook a turkey on Thanksgiving. Fall wasn’t about everyone coming together because that wasn’t what my house looked like. As I’ve grown up, I’ve met more people who have stories like mine. People who have Chinese food for Thanksgiving (something I’m still trying to convince my partner to do) or hike a different part of the Appalachian trail every fall. I’ve learned that unconventional is in fact the new conventional. So put down the pumpkin spice and go experience fall however it is that it makes sense for you. Bring your camera on a trip through the forest, pick up that paintbrush in the attic while you watch the leaves change, grab the can of spray paint, pick up the yarn and sewing needle, or sit down to carve while a storm rages outside. For you, fall may not be a carved interior house post from the Pacific Northwest or a painting of “October in the Catskills.”  Enjoy your unconventional, and take a moment to fall in love with art again. Happy Fall, y’all.