8x10x3/4” (horizontal) original acrylic painting on canvas

Inspiration:

As I set up the easel and unpacked paints and brushes in my new South Carolina art studio, I was pondering what I might paint first. Of course, I had inspirational commissions to create, but knew I needed to paint a small series to both “warm up” and get those first pent-up brushstrokes out! Apples came to mind for three reasons:

First, my little girls just went back to school and at their young ages, “A is for apple” just has all of the back-to-school vibes. Therefore, apples represent our current personal season, which can be cliche but also comforting. We’re beginning new routines and sporting fresh backpacks and that just feels nice.

Secondly, I chose apples, because I had a newfound need to add a touch of red to my kitchen. I’m a blue and green girl all the way, but our new home came with gorgeous custom drapes and roman shades which have red. I really wanted to incorporate these in my kitchen plans and was thinking about art and accents to tie in red with all of the blues and greens I already have. So, you’ll see both green and red apples in this little series for this very reason.

And lastly let me share a short story about the fruit from our backyard in our beloved home in Montana. Our Kalispell house came with fruit trees, already planted and bursting with fruit our first summer (2 years ago). We had more plums and peaches than we could possibly consume or even keep up with picking. The yard also had apples trees, but no apples. I didn’t worry about the lack of apple harvest, because… well, I’m no farmer and any fruit at all was just a fun surprise. The following summer/fall… still no apples. Fast forward to this year, as we were packing up, I was walking through our backyard, hauling loads of trash and bags to donate to our driveway, when I noticed them — you guessed it, apples! Funnily enough, there were no peaches or plums this year, but fresh apples had appeared. And it just felt like a good reminder that the fruit in our lives doesn’t always look the same. I don’t know why these trees took turns, but I do know that it’s a sweet lesson to tuck away. Different years may yield different fruit. And that’s okay.