Celebrating Autumn

It feels strange to think it’s November. These days tumble past faster and faster. Weeks pass. Months pass. Seasons pass.

And now it’s November.

Two months left of the year.

Autumn Color Swatches and Leaf Sketches in My Sketchbook for Anne Butera's New Skillshare Class

I know they’ll fly by, too. But I’ll keep trying to plant myself firmly in NOW. Savor each day. Celebrate the present, whatever the present might be.

I’m not always good at it. Often I’m lousy. Rushing through my days, head down and busy.

Botanical Watercolor Sketches of Acorns and Ginkgo Leaves for Anne Butera's New Skillshare Class

One thing that helps me slow down is making art. The process of mixing paint. Observing. Sketching. Painting. For me art making roots me in the moment. It’s a meditation, even. And definitely it’s a celebration of NOW.

I talk about this in my new Skillshare class, in particular around the beauties of autumn. (I hope you’ll join me).*

Even though autumn can be melancholy for me, it can also be beautiful. And inspiring.

I think when we slow down enough to open our eyes, pay attention and then translate what we’re observing into something tangible — whether that be with paint or words or pixels or something else — life becomes more beautiful and we can enjoy each day, no matter the circumstances.

A Maple Leaf and Maple Seeds Sketched with Watercolor for Anne Butera's New Skillshare class

I know it’s not easy and I’m probably going to still wonder where the time has gone, but perhaps my days will be a bit more JOYful.

What about you? How are you savoring your days? What joyful little details have you been noticing?

 

*I’ve gotten some questions about how Skillshare works. My classes are all part of Skillshare Premium which means you need to have a Premium Membership to watch them. You can sign up for a 14-day free trial of Skillshare premium with no strings attached. If you finish your trial period and want to continue, you can either pay for a whole year and get a discount or be billed monthly. The current year membership is $99 or if you pay monthly it’s $19 per month.

As a premium member you have access to all of my classes as well as THOUSANDS of other classes with new classes coming out constantly. Anyone can be a teacher as long as the classes follow Skillshare’s guidelines. As a meritocracy quality classes rise to the top (are promoted and more easily found on the site). There are some big name teachers on Skillshare, too.

Classes generally focus on a particular skill or topic and are geared toward helping a student to create a project and students are encouraged to share their project by uploading a photo of whatever they create.

If you have any questions that I haven’t answered, please let me know! I’d love to see you in class.

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