Umber Hawthorn comes from a long line of leaf painters who have passed along the art and science of the autumn leaf turn. Umber spends the summer collecting natural mineral and botanical pigments. He then holes up in his workshop from winter to spring, preparing the paints he will use to transform the thicket when the days shorten. Shy by nature, Umber spends most of his time alone or with his squirrel friends, but every Sunday he has dinner with his neighbors, the Banks family.
