Only In Asheville

As the early afternoon fall breeze rushed past me, reddening my cheeks, I continued my walk towards the quad.

I ventured off to sit under one of the trees, and looked around for inspiration for my art project. 

As my mind trailed off I laid back into the leaves covering the ground, and I gazed up into the tree tops. 

My eyes wandered, glancing at the few people out on the quad at this time. 

It was a nice break from the usually busy quad life. 

As my eyes continued to wander, I began to stare at the piles of leaves. 

Leaves seem such a mundane part of life, that they are constantly overlooked, especially once they float down from their tree limbs. 

But if you really take the time to look at a leaf - they are quite detail orientated. 

The way their colors can vary from numerous shades of warm colors. 

Their veins and the paths they choose to take. 

How some parts of the leaf are flat, while others are raised. 

The lines themselves are complex, such as the basic shape of the leaf. 

All of these attributes inspired me to pursue these leaves for my art project. 

So without hesitation, I grabbed my sketchbook, planned a few things out and decided I needed to gather some of the leaves to include them in my piece. 

I called my friends to help me out. 

Only in Asheville does three girls gathering leaves from the quad not look completely insane. 

Which is a wonderful fact because it means that I do not need to worry about suppressing my artistic vision. 

Perhaps if I was somewhere else, I would have been too bashful to gather leaves in the quad. 

But that is why UNC Asheville is so great, you can do what you want to pursue, whether it is the art involved in the leaves or the science. 

Regardless, if you want to gather leaves in the middle of the quad. 

You go for it.