Thanksgiving Apples

These were done for the Studio Atelier challenge this month. The reference was one image, with an apple bunch on either side. I chose, instead, to make them into 2 paintings - one vertical to accent the lines of the cloth & stem, the other horizontal to accommodate the wider composition. 

Apples are so prolific this time of year, with every farmers stand and garden center selling bushels and bushels of them. All assorted varieties and all assorted colors as well - reds, oranges, yellows & greens. It's the perfect fruit for the autumn season - it has all the fall colors!

But I think my favorite apple of the season is a freshly made apple pie. I use to make the apple pie (and pumpkin) for my family Thanksgiving dinners. The apple pie was loaded with apples, seasoned with cinnamon and sugar. Then I would put a butter crumb topping on the pie & bake till bubbly. It truly was a labor of love, and the pies were often finished at the Thanksgiving table.

My family is gone now - at least the ones I use to celebrate the holidays with. At first, when they were all gone, I had found the holidays a bit melancholy and lonely. My husbands family does the holiday dinners now and I always feel welcome. But there's something about your own family, the ones you grew up with & who knew you before you knew yourself - that is something that we too often forget about.... until it is gone.

So for Thanksgiving this year I painted the Apple Harvest, as I remember the people who were dear to me and are now gone. And I am thankful to have known them all in the first place.

I wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Acrylic on 9x12 canvas