Some of the most challenging and interesting compositions for me to paint are the ones I find in nature. I don’t tend to paint the sweeping landscapes but instead opt for the exploration of one tiny spot of nature that I chance upon, usually when I go walking.

Initially it’s my artistic brain that will kick in and marvel at the small harmonious compositions I see around me as I walk – compositions where I haven’t had to do a thing to create them as the seasons, the sun, and the wind have done all the expert placement work. I will then take a number of photos with my phone.

Back in the studio, I will study the photograph to try to understand the various objects (often plants), the layers of depth, and where there may be movement. It’s a big learning exercise for sure. Then the challenge comes in how to convey what I’ve learned in miniature painting form and maintain the harmony of the composition. This is why you see so much detail in these little pieces versus an expressive looser interpretation. I’m not trying to only make the viewer feel something but also discover something more as I did.

For my latest miniature world exploration, this composition appeared immediately to me as I was walking along a tree-lined pathway in a Lake Ontario park last fall. Yes, the changing leaves on the trees were stunning but it was what was on the ground beneath these trees that caught my eye. Even though it was just a small spot on the grass, there was so much beauty in the variety of leaf colour and type that had fallen there. I began taking a series of photos – people must have wondered why I was photographing down instead of up!

And as I later started to paint, I found there was much more going on in this little patch of grass than just lovely colour. I tried to understand leaf structures, how colour changes in decay, how raindrops are retained on only certain leaves, and how decaying bits find their way under the grasses to become humus.

And while I had learned most of this stuff many decades ago in a grade school science class, it was only now as I painted these details that it all struck me as such a wonder, a miracle that keeps repeating itself every autumn!

I‘m pleased to say that this little painting, filled with wonders, has found a new home.