Susie Sultzman

This feels a little mystical, a little magical and maybe even a little spooky – which clearly is perfect for today. When I was younger, I always wanted to dress up like a princess or fairy, I was a girl who drempt of unicorns and magical far off lands. My mother had a more grounded perception of a little girl’s life, and I was forced to wear “cute” things like a little kitty (wearing a sensible fuzzy sweatpant suit while my bff got to wear her form fitting dance leotard with pointed cat ears). Or the year I was a bunch of balloon grapes – which I’ll hand it to my mom, in the days before Pinterest, this was pretty creative costume and thankfully in those days 4 year olds did not have to sit in carseats before their trick or treating excursions.

However, with this project I got to enter a fantasy world. This was a place where autumn’s wonder collided with gilded crowns and tulle dresses. A milkweed pod became a septor and velvet settee one girl’s throne. As the sun sank into the background, the leaves danced into the night twinking in shades of bordeux and plum. The seed’s white fuffy strands twirled through the air like woodland nymphs, which added to the magic and splendor of the October evening.