A Note from the Artist:

This piece, titled “Autumn Outing”, is inspired by the blustery fall season and my desire to get out and schedule a break for a short camping trip each time the cool air and colorful leaves come around.

The fall season is also when a lot of peoples’ schedules start to fill up, with school starting back up for some households, the holidays lingering in the near future and many folks “getting down to business” after a relaxing summer. While this stands true for me too, I make sure to prioritize this short autumn outing for myself to honor the season change, either alone or with a friend or two. To make sure this actually happens, I build this trip into my schedule way back at the start of the year so it’s just as cemented in as my annual medical check-up. I consider it my annual mental health check-up, and I highly recommend scheduling yourself an autumn outing for yourself too! While I’m specifically referring to camping in the fall, you certainly can soak up much of the same joys with just a simple day hike too if tents aren’t your thing!

There are so many beauties about camping in the fall: no mosquitos for a start! There’s also the gorgeous warm-toned backdrop with leaves falling like the most graceful confetti, the crackling campfire roasting your s’mores after a long day’s hike, the bed of leaves under your tent giving you extra cushion to snuggle into your bed, and waking up toasty warm in your sleeping bag with the cool crisp air tickling your face.

The autumn season out in the wilderness is quieter, the chirping insects have nestled in for a long winter’s nap and the only sound is the crunch of leaves under your feet or from the scampering squirrel, deer or wild turkey passing by. There’s a sense of settled peace in the season.

It was this sense of quiet cozy peace in the golden fall backdrop while on my latest autumn outing in West Virginia’s New River Gorge that inspired this letterpress print. The small red tent alone in the woods with the little leaves, made with vintage metal dots, falling all around it, and the warming sun illuminating the golden valley walls, made with a torn paper block, in the background. I hope you can feel the autumn magic in this piece and it inspires you to schedule your own version of an autumn outing for yourself in the coming year!