The Porch At Flora Villa

 June has arrived with outstanding color... to an artist we become overwhelmed with the beauty of it all. There is nothing like spring green and cool blue morning shadows to create a wonderful backdrop for all the colors blossoming everywhere. The flowers around, the well named Flora Villa Inn, were just fabulous. We started at 8:30 AM, as we did last year, now that the winter darkness has passed.

Remember our season has begun and all are welcome (beginning to expert) to join us. We always meet at the Outlet Pond in Eagles Mere ( on Route 42 on your right coming from Laporte) at 8:30 AM to begin our journey to some special Sullivan County place. Our mission is to just have fun and set our present day worries aside for a few hours. You can't go wrong with that type of thinking and drawing. Next Wednesday we will be drawing or painting on the Laurel Path in Eagles Mere since the mountain laurel will be in full bloom. Surely we would not want to miss that opportunity. Please don't be afraid to join us. We look forward to seeing old and new faces.

Spring Has Finally Arrived

We have been waiting not so patiently for Spring to arrive to the Mountain Top. The same can be said for all the flowers, trees, bugs, and birds. This has been a very long winter for all of us who live here year round...if not snowing it was raining. So when the sun was shining on a Wednesday we all did a little Spring dance ( as did the bugs) and headed outdoors to capture the daffodils in bloom all over Eagles Mere. There may only have been three of us painting and drawing, but the promise of summer was a "stroke" away. We await all of your return to the mountain (happy and healthy) when the leaves are on the trees, the grass is green again, and the lake is warm enough to swim in.

Many of our fellow artists have been in our thoughts and prayers this winter and hope you will be able to join us when your are able this year.

Change

The change of seasons in Eagles Mere is something we always look forward to. Often it is bitter sweet, but always surprising. The colors continue to impress us no matter where we are. One day there may only be a few reds and golds and then all of a sudden the trees are glowing, the railroad bed will soon be dusted with snow and our cross country skis will be pulled out of their summer hibernation.

We will continue to paint this winter and welcome you every Wednesday at the Beach house at 10:30 to paint or draw. All are welcome. See you on the mountain when it is white instead of golden.

To the Beach

Fall was making an appearance which we felt in the air this first Wednesday after Labor Day. The weather was delightful, but those nasty bugs were still lingering in protected areas so decided to head to the beach knowing the wind would keep them away. We all spread out and found different spots to focus on for painting. With the start of school and the beach closed our numbers have truly dwindled, but the painting will continue. We all will have many paintings to complete over the winter months and  I am sure I speak for all of us when I say painting flowers, boats, and beach will be wonderful when the snow is on the ground.

An Ode to Screened in Porches

If I were Keats I would have written an Ode to screened in porches instead of Autumn. He made those nasty gnats sound wonderful in his ode to Autumn
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies

Lucy's window boxes were beautiful-BUGS BAD

Why oh why have they returned? I thought they were a spring thing and with the arrival of cooler air would just die. Oh how wrong I was. We were ready to capture some wonderful views from Lucy's porch on September 1st, but the bugs were horrible! (maybe we can blame Jimmy) It didn't take much "arm twisting" when Joann offered us her screened in porch. Believe me it was a unanimous decision. She has some wonderful views of North Mountain and the woods. Some of us worked on previous unfinished pieces or just tried out some new techniques, but as always we enjoyed ourselves.

Just a quick note - the week before Pat offered her screened in porch for painting (I was in Corning visiting the glass museum getting very inspired). A big thank you Pat for hosting our "little" group - you managed to pull in seven painters. I must be doing something wrong. No pictures for her group, but lots of wonderful remarks.

Sullivan County Barns

We are so lucky to have so many beautiful barns in Sullivan County. One in particular with three unique silos is at the junction of 220 and 42. Our little group headed out August 18th prepared to capture the barn floating in a field of corn. It could have been right out of Rogers and Hammerstein's song, "O What a Beautiful Morning" except for one very distracting element - CARS AND TRUCKS flying by us. Until you have experienced sitting out in the open on route 220 you have no idea how much traffic goes by that little intersection. At one point a piece of metal flew off one of the trucks and almost hit a very unsuspecting artist. Non the less, we prevailed and captured a fabulous barn. It did cause us to take pause about picking another roadside spot in the near future. Upon leaving after only two hours of painting and unable to hear what our fellow artists were saying sitting next to us... we welcomed with renewed pleasure the peace and quiet found on the mountain. Oh how lucky we are. (Hmmm... maybe next time we should paint the little green barn in town).