blood red

i intended to talk about the beauty of mid-autumn sumac in this post. but in the meantime, a strange neighborhood dog wandered into our open screen door tonight, possibly lured by the smell of roast pork shoulder in the oven, and our 25 pound puggle decided he was just the knight in shining fur to save our family from the horrors of hungry, and probably friendly, black poodles. in the ensuing melee, jack received two puncture wounds behind his ear and on his neck, both the color of one of these sumac leaves. he already received a raw marrow bone in acknowledgement of his service, and will get some extra love tonight, on the couch in front of the fire, accompanied by stories of his selfless bravery.

autumn sumac leaves

pigment hunter

if you follow me on instagram you probably know that i have been experimenting with making natural inks. i am very stingy with my time, and as a result i can be very reluctant to pick up new hobbies. but natural ink making piqued my interest on social media, and then my best friend and daily walking companion bought a book on the topic not knowing i had become curious about it (in that way that best friends often do). so together, we did a little experimenting. after all, it is a perfect fit with the foraging i do for STILL, i justified to myself. well, that was one month ago. and now my house is littered with natural ink marked pages. and at my sons request, we have started dying clothes as well. it a fairly involved process of simmering and filtering and reducing to make the inks. you could pretty much sum it up  by saying that september disappeared and all i have to show for it is a dozen 4 ounce jars of murky inks. that was all a long way of saying that i am now looking for possible pigments everywhere. nothing is sacred. if i can crush it, simmer it, and filter, it is in my cross hairs.

sumac leaves in fall

timing is everything

i have pretty much exhausted my grocery store fruit and vegetable options for the time being. i hope you enjoyed the exercise. in any case, thank you for indulging me. now it is time to turn my attention, and my eye, back on my natural environment. the colors here in minnesota are just about peaking. as they say, timing is everything.

dried and crushed fall leaves

a little injection of sunshine

i shot this photo a few weeks ago. and then forgot all about it while i got obsessed with slicing vegetables paper thin. it was like a midsummer visitor arriving at my door just as fall began to make its intentions clear. welcome, sunshine. i needed a dose of vitamin d.

sunflower

did you notice?

i just noticed tonight that one unexpected candidate for the primary color of autumn, at least where i live, is orange. squash. pumpkin. maple leaves. sweet potatoes. carrots. and these peppers. hey russet and gold. watch your backs.

orange bell pepper