Art download: A second spring

In honor of autumn’s arrival 🍂

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.’’ 

— Albert Camus

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Hello there! And welcome to Dandelion Seeds, an illustrated newsletter that’s hand-painted and hand-lettered, from my desk to yours.

For the past seven years, I called Uruguay home — a small country tucked away near the bottom of South America, and set in the Southern Hemisphere.

That meant that every September, the equinox we celebrated marked the arrival of spring, not autumn. Coming from the US, I always felt a kind of dissonance around this time of year — because even as my Instagram feed would fill with tones of orange and gold and red, the world outside my window looked very different. 

September in Uruguay meant bouquets of calla lilies for sale in the street. It meant wisteria vines laden with pale purple blossoms. Most of all, it meant magnolia trees in full bloom, their maroon-colored flowers always reminding me of tulips.

But now that we’ve moved to Belgium, September means fall again. 

It means pumpkins for sale in our new supermarket. It means the sound of our feet shuffling through fallen leaves. And as I wrote about in last week’s illustrated essay, it means looking for walnuts and acorns with Elena and filling our pockets with the treasures we find.

And so, in honor of my first Northern Hemisphere fall in quite some time, I wanted to share a special art download with you today, that you’re welcome to use and enjoy in your day-to-day life.

I’ve created a new iPhone wallpaper featuring one of my very first paintings for Dandelion Seeds. During the fall in Uruguay, the ground becomes a carpet of golden gingko leaves, and though I’ve yet to come across a gingko tree in Antwerp, it will always be one of my favorite signs that autumn is here.

All you need to do is click on the button below the image to download it for free — and enjoy!

Here’s to the gifts of a second spring,
Candace