this large leaf, about the size of a clipboard, has been sitting on my collections table for a couple of weeks. i loved the colors, but couldn’t decide what to do with it. i finally decided i would crumble it–separating the colors as i had done earlier with sumac leaves. then i would make a composition of eyeshadow-like smudges with the copper, brown, olive, and charcoal-colored leaf matter. it was going to be completely gorgeous. but unlike the sumac experiment, which exceeded my expectations and then some, this project was a total fail. the leaf would not crumble!  it simply crumpled like a kleenex. i don’t know if it had longer fibers, or what, but instead of an esté-lauderesque bit of fashionable elegance, i have only this snapshot i took, by chance, right before i mangled my subject beyond recognition. i present you with the law of unintended consequences.

autumn burdock leaf

grass lake trail, shoreview, minnesota