You can feel it in the air...

 Greetings to you, friends!

The Fall 2020 Premiere issue of Autumn Brilliance will be available 

on September 1, 2025

  

This is the time of year we spend watching as all the many wonderful artists are beginning to post photos of their imaginative creations for this year’s Halloween shows.

We love seeing it all!

Each and every one of them generates and elatedly flames a joyous spark within us all, doesn’t it?

 

And as such, we can't help but be deeply immersed in all the marvelous sensations that Halloween gifts us.

  Everything about this generous holiday floods our senses in the very best ways:

* There are the sights of the colors (orange! black! crimson! rich forest greens! indigo night sky! gold and more)

* The sounds of the musical accompaniments (soundtracks to our favorite spooky movies and novelty songs)

* The intoxicating smells and tastes (candy! cider! fresh baked goods with warming spices like cinnamon and clove and nutmeg)

* But, of all the great things that make it our most treasured season of the year, perhaps it could very well be the sense of touch, with the many incredible tactile textures that it brings... the soft velvets, crinkly papers, woven wools and colorful cottons, sparkly synthetic weaves and threadbare linen, yarn and string, a puff of glitter, polyester, silk and even some ragged rayon.

 

***Now, let’s add to this exhilarating mix some fine clays – such as water-based and polymers – and also a fine array of watercolor, acrylic and oil paints. While we’re at it, why don’t we throw in bits of old jewelry, some metal, a few pieces wood, some nice faux fur, feathers, a few craggy tree branches and acorns and even a couple old bones and, while we’re at it, even a bug’s rigid exoskeleton or two here and there.  No such thing as “useless junk,” it’s all good here.

***Most of all, the best and, by far, eminently important thing to add is passion. And humor. And intensity, fright, sadness, silliness, anger; whatever emotion is dredged to the surface – we’ll just make sure to intersperse it with a whole lot of love.

*** Once all of these precious items are mixed together in the proper shape and form, you step back, and admire your handiwork. You ask yourself if you can readily part with this creation of marvelous soul and pure intent… or would its charm and undeniable spirit be better at home with a friend, or even a total stranger who fell in love with it and wishes fervently for it to take up an exalted place of honor in their home, likely amidst a large existing collection of similar Halloween artistry? Certainly a difficult decision, but one that must be made for the betterment of all parties involved.

 

 

You may be wondering what all this is leading up to, and we’ll tell you that you have just touched upon the inner dialog and process of a Halloween artist. A special human being, one who feels emotions deeply, and with a fathoms-massive wellspring of love for nature, for their friends and family, and the very things they create every year to reach out and touch your own heart. 

We will never cease to be amazed by and continue to celebrate these special people and all that they summon forth from their visionary souls. And we thank YOU for your ongoing love and support of all.

 

Welcome to Halloween, friends. Let the celebrations continue!

It has begun! ...

 For those of us with Halloween hearts, today is the day that our time begins. 

Video clip of fabulous original Halloween art from Moon Hollow Gallery. Please go give them a visit, you'll love what you see!

 http://www.youtube.com/@MoonHollowGallery
instagram.com/moonhollowgallery

Though more hot summer days are ahead first, we nevertheless turn our autumn clocks to the darker season and await its inevitable approach. It's a season of striking colors, with orange and black dominating the scene. Cooler air brings a welcome chill, wafting the fragrances of warming spices like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, bonfires, and Halloween candy.  

What do you most look forward to in the fall? 

 

 

We appreciate you -

 For those who cherish handmade folk art, you receive our deepest abiding love and respect.

Thank you for helping to preserve this most special and precious art form!

 

 

Celebrating our Fifth Year! - - -

 Beginning in 2017, the plans were set in place, the ideas laid out to bring Halloween magic to all, and everything coalesced into form in the fall of 2020 during the pandemic.

 We are genuinely honored to offer five printed issues of Autumn Brilliance, all of which are available by clicking on the links on the left side of the site here.

*We also have one special digital offering from Christmastime 2020 which is still available (scroll down on the left side here, click the link). It's a fun and dark bit of whimsy, featuring many of your favorite Halloween artists as well as a lot of delightfully spooky elements from the Yuletide season.

(Speaking of the Christmas issue - would you like to see this in print, too, like our Premiere Fall 2020 issue now is?)

 ***REMINDER***

Our Premiere Fall 2020 printed issue will be available on September 1, 2025!

 Thank you to all who also believe in the magic. Here's to many more years from here on! 

 

And now, presenting....

 

Our Premiere Fall 2020 issue - in print!

- Available September, 2025 - 

Greetings, everyone - Happy Summerween!

     I’d like to start by giving my deepest thanks to you all for your ongoing love and support of Autumn Brilliance magazine. You’re all a wonderful bunch of humans that I’ve come to know and love, and you’ve made my heart so happy!

     Please allow me a bit of preamble – this is a tad lengthy, so grab that cuppa tea, get comfie, and read on.

     This year marks our fifth anniversary of bringing you what we genuinely believe is the best in Halloween art. It’s been a privilege to do, and five years is a true milestone that amazes me. What began as a simple idea has taken off in the most special and incredible way, where I get to work with the best Halloween artists in the whole entire world… so yes, it really has become a dream come true. Like most of you, I incorporate Halloween into my everyday existence, so creating this magazine has enhanced my overall happiness a thousandfold!

     Our first issue – Premiere Fall 2020 – was released as a digital-only magazine, meaning, it was not in print form, but one that was viewable on all electronic devices such as smart phones and tablets. Our reasoning for this decision was, we thought going fully digital was the most modern, up to date thing to do – limiting our carbon footprint. We thought by offering it for free would help, but, well, it kind of, sort of did. Only later did we fully realize our unintentional mistake: that a visually vibrant arts magazine such as this needs to be in a more concrete form. Because this magazine has become known as a series of collector’s items to keep, the fact that our very first issue was absent became a conundrum. If you have each successive printed issue (Fall 2021-2024), there is a glaring omission, isn’t there?  

     Over the course of the past five years, we have fielded many, many queries and requests both online, via email and during personal appearances at live shows in regard to exactly when we would finally be releasing the Fall 2020 issue in print. Our reply was often met with a sense of disappointment that usually went like this:

 “But I would love to be able to hold a full color magazine in my hands”

“I prefer to be able to thumb through the pages to see all the artwork”  

“Seeing it on a video screen is totally different and not as good as an actual magazine”

     I totally understand that! Those being the most common complaints made us realize we had to do something about it. We hated being a disappointment and turning people away, so this year, we have finally, FINALLY rectified this situation… and come Fall 2025, we will proudly present to you the printed version of Autumn Brilliance’s premiere. Hope you’ll forgive us… so sorry it took so long!

     The wonderful thing about this issue is you get to see a wide array of the first artists who helped put us on the map – most notably our very first Spotlight Profile Artist, the incredible LeeAnn Kress of Charmed Confections, who is world-renown for her fun and fabulous original art dolls and sweet delights.

     Initially I thought that putting this magazine into printed form would be simple – but, yikes, was I in for a rude surprise. The Fall 2020 edition was created with what I’ll call an ancient graphics publishing program that no longer exists! Here I was, thinking it would have been a snap to transfer it over into my current publishing programs (Affinity Publisher/Canva/Adobe Elements). But noooooo! Nothing was compatible with this old program, so I had to start completely from scratch by dismantling the entire magazine, bit by bit, retouching, reworking, resaving each and every image and then restructuring the magazine into its finished state. No easy feat, it took me from February until June to do this because the overall look really needed a fresh updating from its rather simple original form. I think you’ll see what I mean when you see the finished product.

     But because of the fact that it took me such a long time to redo the magazine (remember, I’m an office of one, doing it all by myself from my home office studio), that means there is no other “new” magazine this season – there was no time to get them both done in time for fall release. However, just wait until next year’s issue, there is an avalanche of great artistry to be featured in it.

     So, without any further ado, we’d like to present to you, our Fall 2020 issue – available on September 2025, at all the usual places: online via our website (autumnbrilliancemagazine.com, which takes you to our Etsy store to order copies of the magazine) and in person at Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween in Marshall, Michigan on September 27^th..

    Again, thank you so much for your ongoing support. All of your comments, compliments, suggestions and constructive criticisms have been appreciated so very much. We hope to see you at the BPoH show in September!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's almost here...

... just another few days...

MONDAY, JUNE 9th

 

New year, new surprise ...

It's a surprise, so we can't tell you anything... yet!

                                       Our mascot, Got Candy - hand-made original clay creation, by Ellen Gee - 2017 ©

     What we will say, however, is it's something that a lot of you have asked for over the years, and we're going to deliver the goods. Keep watching here for updates.

     I'm sincere from my heart when I say, it's been my profound pleasure and honor to present the most incredible Halloween and holiday artists to the world these past five years in the pages of Autumn Brilliance. Those artists include Rucus Studio's Scott Smith, Marguerite Surich Noschese, Charmed Confections' LeeAnn Kress, the late, great Dustin Poche, Jennie Hepler Takens, David Everett, and so many more.

Do you have a favorite artist, one you'd like to see featured in our pages? Please drop us a line, let us know!