Fallen Leaves & a Little Autumn Magic
There’s a point in the change of season when I start noticing different things on my morning walks. The leaves underfoot, the amber creeping into the trees, a sense of quiet.
Recently, those fallen leaves have been giving me all sorts of ideas. There’s so much colour in them when you really look, sometimes several shades within a single leaf, with little dark edges and markings that make them all the more beautiful.
Nature is very good at putting things together that I immediately want to bring back to the workbench.
Of course, a morning walk is supposed to involve some actual walking, which becomes a little difficult when you keep stopping to look at the ground.
But this is often where the making begins for me, before I’ve picked up any silver.
Bringing the season inside
We’ve been repainting our living room, changing our dark, moody walls to a softer grey-beige, or ‘greige’ as I like to say. I’d been noticing how dark the room was feeling, and with the evenings drawing in, I wanted to brighten things up a little. I do love those deeper colours, but sometimes you realise the space around you needs something different.
Those warm, honeyed ambers and earthy colours from the world outside begin finding their way into what I’m drawn to.
There’s something lovely about seeing those colours beside silver. A little warmth against the cooler metal, a stone that catches the light and suddenly reveals something you hadn’t noticed before. These are the details I can happily lose myself in, turning something over in my hands when I really ought to be getting on with the next job.
The pieces I’m sharing carry a little of that autumn feeling.
Some of the inspiration is quite easy to trace back to those morning walks, other parts arrive more quietly through a colour or a texture that stays with me until I find somewhere for it to belong.
That’s one of the things I love about making by hand. There’s room to follow an idea and see where it takes you.
A little light from the Harvest Moon
The Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, feels very much at home in this turning of the season. Even her name brings to mind a sense of gathering, of taking stock before the darker months settle around us.
For me, there’s something comforting in that thought. We spend so much time looking ahead to whatever needs doing next that it’s easy to forget to notice what has already grown, or what we’ve made with the time we’ve had.
That’s probably why autumn feels so full of inspiration.
Everything is changing, but there’s an invitation to linger amongst it for a while.
To notice the leaves before they soften into the earth, light a candle as the afternoon fades, and give ourselves a moment to enjoy being exactly where we are.
What’s finding its way onto the workbench
As autumn moves towards winter, I tend to reach for deeper colours.
Garnets, rich dark reds and blacks start calling to me, and the work takes on a slightly moodier feel. There’s a place for all of it, from the warmth of an amber palette to something that feels a little more like a winter night.
For now, though, I’m enjoying seeing where these autumn colours lead.
You may have noticed in the last update a few pendulums were made (and sold!!), as I’ve had so many people asking for them. It’s lovely to hear what you’re hoping to see, and I’m looking to make some more soon ~ so keep your eyes peeled for that.
The next newsletter will bring a closer look at some of the things I’ve been making, and a little glimpse of what’s still to come.
Think of it as a catch-up from the workbench, with a few autumn treasures amongst the news.
Thank you, as always, for being interested in the making as well as the finished pieces. It means a great deal to be able to share where these little ideas begin, and to think that something inspired by a fallen leaf on a Cornish morning might eventually become part of your own story.
Jo x