Autumn in the Valley, pastel, 31 x 27, 2010 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Just Three More Days for Free September New Member Print: “Autumn in the Valley”

Autumn in the Valley, pastel, 31 x 27, 2010 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Autumn in the Valley, pastel, 31 x 27, 2010 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

This painting captures early autumn for me, the leaves just beginning to turn, the stunning blue sky drifting with deepening clouds, a little chilly in the canoe on Chartiers Creek. If you like this art too, you can get a free print of it by registering for an account on Portraits of Animals before the end of September.

Free print of your choice when you register for an account, no purchase necessary

The featured artwork for each monthly calendar also becomes one of the New Member Gifts for the month it’s featured. When you register for an account I’ll send you a welcome email with a code and instructions to choose your free new member gift from a variety of matted prints, including the month’s featured artwork. Registration is free, and you can simply order your free print and nothing else if you want. Your Autumn in the Valley, Pastel, New Member Gift print is 8″ x 11″ and matted with a pure white mat to fit an 11″ x 14″ frame.

The calendars are always themed by the month, and the art will vary from a detailed landscape like “Autumn in the Valley” to simple en plein air sketches, to wildlife, waterscapes and florals, and pastels and watercolors and charcoals and photos of the same subjects.

“Autumn in the Valley” was the first of the monthly nature and wildlife desktop wallpaper calendars I’ll be offering on Portraits of Animals each month. These wallpaper calendars for computers and mobile devices have been a favorite feature for almost five years on The Creative Cat featuring my variety in feline artwork and the occasional photo.

Typically I post the desktop wallpaper calendars here on the blog on or before the first of the month, and they will also be available in the right column on the blog page and on individual product pages.

The wallpaper calendars are also free to download. Read about the September 2016 wallpaper calendar, and check back in a few days for October’s calendar.

You can order other prints of this artwork as well on paper and canvas.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Sloping hills blaze with autumn color at a rocky, rippled bend in Chartiers Creek, yet on the horizon deep gray-purple clouds hover; although the day was sunny I remember it being distinctly chilly with a sharpness to the breeze, especially on the water in a canoe, and winter is literally on the horizon.

For two reasons the scene was reminiscent and inspiring: first, that I rounded the bend to see this natural splendor in all its detail, brilliant color, fluttering leaves, rippling water, changing clouds, happening all on its own with no help from me or any other human; and, second, it was an example of that “change of season” with the gray-purple clouds of winter arriving on the horizon, two seasons blending into one another. I needed to share this image, and it was so moving that the inspiration also became a poem, and the title for my third annual poetry reading and art show at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, Change of Season.

No, I couldn’t paint while paddling, and my little digital photos didn’t do the scene justice, yet other than wading down the creek and setting up an easel in the middle of the water, there was no other way of painting this. To take the scene from the tiny digital image to the full-size painting took a good bit of memory and visualization; it’s a good thing I’m very familiar with scenes like this.

Free matted print for registering for an account

Hope you enjoy it this month! And don’t forget to register for an account and get a free matted print of this painting or choose from several other sketches, paintings or photos of other subjects.


Take a look at other nature and wildlife featured artwork and desktop calendar posts.

This is the first desktop wallpaper calendar, so the above link will be active when I post another.

Each month I feature a piece of feline artwork from the archives to the present day, discuss its history and process, and set it up as a free downloadable desktop calendar for just about every electronic device available.

Flourish-darkgray-100Don’t miss any new items or opportunities!

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© 2016 | www.PortraitsOfAnimals.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.

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