Image 1 of 2
Image 2 of 2
High quality printing—Made in USA.
Optimized brightness with premium matte finish
Shipping
Please allow up to 2 weeks for printing and delivery.
Returns
I will replace any damaged item if it is returned within six weeks of the original purchase; excludes return shipping charges. No refunds.
Artwork Description and Symbolism
Autumn is the season that invites honesty without theatrics—the time when nature turns inward, sheds what’s spent, and reveals what’s been hiding under the surface. In I Am Autumn— I Am Conscious Awareness Having This Experience, the Sonoran Desert becomes a living metaphor for shadow-work: the brave, compassionate practice of facing old wounds so they can finally loosen their grip.
Up close, the composition is a charged dialogue between spiny, protective branches and soft, compound leaves—a visual language anyone who has healed through hardship will recognize. The icy whites and muted earth tones cut through the lush greens like clarity arriving mid-process. The thorns feel like the psyche’s defenses—strategies once needed to survive—while the feathery foliage suggests the tender self underneath: the part that still wants connection, safety, and belonging. The layering and depth amplify the emotional truth of shadow-work: the human experience is never just one thing. It is protection and vulnerability, memory and renewal, tension and grace—often all at once.
In the spirit of The Desert Abstraction Project, this piece is not simply a study of desert form—it is a portrait of inner terrain. Autumn, as a psychological archetype, is the threshold season where the psyche is ripe for integration: the time when patterns that have been outgrown—resentment, shame, self-judgment, fear of being seen—can finally be examined and released. That is what gives the work its quiet power. It does not demand perfection. It suggests compassion through clarity—the kind of healing that softens how the inner voice speaks, and naturally expands how presence and understanding are extended to others.
For anyone moving through a season of repair, re-centering, and emotional maturation, I Am Autumn becomes a steady visual companion. It serves as a reminder that the shadow is not an enemy—it is information. Bringing this piece into a space is an invitation to heal with integrity, clear what no longer serves, and cultivate a more compassionate relationship with the self and the world.
Accompanying Inspirational Exercise: Autumn Shadow-Work for Compassion
For 10 minutes, three times this week, practice the following shadow-work ritual—designed to clear old wounds without becoming overwhelmed by them:
1) Name the Thorn (1 minute)
Write one recent emotional reaction—irritation, jealousy, defensiveness, withdrawal. Keep it factual:
“I felt ___ when ___ happened.”
2) Find the Wound (3 minutes)
Ask: “What fear or old story is underneath this?”
Examples may include: “I am not enough.” “I will be abandoned.” “It is not safe to be seen.”
Write the first honest answer that arises, without editing or judgment.
3) Offer the Leaf (3 minutes)
Respond from the perspective of a wise, compassionate protector:
“Of course, this feeling exists. It makes sense. Learning is happening. Safety exists now.”
Then add one supportive truth that can be practiced today:
“A boundary can be set without withdrawing love.”
4) Choose the Small Repair (3 minutes)
Select one gentle, tangible action that restores inner integrity, such as:
sending a kind message that has been delayed
stating a boundary simply and calmly
clearing one small physical or emotional space
taking a quiet walk without distraction to settle the nervous system
Close the practice by reading the following sentence out loud:
“Healing does not come from fighting the self. Healing comes from understanding the self.”
Over time, this practice allows Autumn to fulfill its deeper purpose: a season of psychic clearing, where old armor can soften, emotional insight can deepen, and compassion becomes not an aspiration—but a lived, embodied reality.
