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).

Vanishing View

How many of you drive into Eagles Mere coming from Muncy Valley by taking the original road into Eagles Mere off of Rt. 42 via Laporte Ave. (right before our once loved and still very missed JR'S store)? Since I live near this part of town I take the road often. And just as often I forget that Laporte Ave. sits on a beautiful ridge top - whether you look right or left hillsides and mountains are in view. On this particular day of painting those of us who could take time away from sports week experienced some of those fabulous views from Joanne and and Sonny Smith's property. Joanne had already been out gardening prior to our 9:00 AM arrival. Everywhere you turned there were beautiful little flower "stories" around their property. A reclaimed wooden chair became the perfect "frame" for a grouping of flowers. A wicker seat sitting beside the driveway was brimming with flowers of every color. Since I am not a gardener I appreciate these little masterpieces. It was like walking into a special little garden museum with birds and butterflies floating in and out of the "pictures".  Speaking of which, I took many pictures of her little gardens and told Joanne they will keep me very happy over the winter months painting them even if I can't grow them. Our choices  of painting subjects didn't end there. They also have one priceless view of North Mountain and on this day the moist atmosphere made for some interesting and exciting challenges. We all saw it a little differently with various shades of blue and green. It is truly amazing how North Mountain can create so many different moods depending on the day or time of day you view it. Drive slowly the next time you drive down Laporte ...  and revel in the Vanishing Views.A special thanks for the lemonade - we all loved it!  .

Keystone Mountain Park

Our Endless Mountains are so beautiful. How many of you find it difficult to stay focused when driving on our roads around the area? There isn't a bend in the road, on any given day, that I don't appreciate some scene that could have easily been pulled from an Impressionist painting. There are times I actually appreciate being stopped on the road due to construction so that I can just look around. Keystone Mountain Park is one of those places you drive by all the time, but you never really get to enjoy. Last Wednesday we were blessed with perfect light and refreshing air for painting. I do forget who suggested this place to paint and I thank you - I think. We all fell in love with the quaint old stone building next to the lake. However...even if you understood two point perspective the challenge of this building's roof line was almost overwhelming. Did that deter us from attempting the almost impossible? Not in your life. I took enough pictures to do four paintings - truly scenes to capture again and again. I will say most of us are not in any rush to do another building. So the next time you are stopped on the road be sure and check out the scenery and let us know if you have found another perfect place to paint.

Lake Mokoma

Once again Mother Nature tested us.
Thank goodness for our hostess, Betty Underwood, at Lake Mokoma. Without her coffee, tea, muffins, cookies and most important her screened in porch we may not have stayed to paint. Most of us ventured out and walked along the lakeside in the rain to see if we truly wanted to be plein-air painters. However, the smell of fresh brewed coffee pulled us back undercover. The gray weather created a true mood for our paintings, but not our spirits. Those of us who "braved" the weather were glad we did.

A Perfect Day On the Lake

What a Perfect Day to spend sometime near the lake. Lucy Stitzer graciously invited us to paint in and around the old Ellicot cottage renamed the Ellis cottage. The lovingly restored home, it's outbuildings, stone pillars, and landscape created some fascinating drawing and painting challenges. The day started with clouds, but the sun broke through periodically which created some interesting light patterns on the path and in the woods surrounding the cottage. Those on the path looking out 0n the sun drenched dock did some wonderful compositions incorporating the coolness of the path and the warmth on the dock. I personally love the look of an Adirondack chair on any dock or deck. However, for me, this usually causes an anxious state of mind since I have such a difficult time getting them into perspective. . I chose a different subject of an old wood drainage pipe. Missy and I chose our pastels to work with since the day had started out quite cloudy. She did a lovely painting of the lake with a boat house. As for me, I am not sure I was as successful, but that is what this group is all about. We are free to experiment. It is not important that we finish our work or necessarily love what we have done. What is important is that we have had the opportunity to exercise the right side of our brain. Our left side stays pretty busy reasoning and assessing our daily life, thus this moment of peace on Wednesday morning refreshes us like a dip in the lake on a perfect day.