A plein painting trip to the Catskills

excerpt from Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle...

S. Jaworski-Stranc morning on Rugg Road, oil on panel

S Jaworski-Stranc, Vista of Hudson River Valley, oil on panel

Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill Mountains.  They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height and lording it over the surrounding country.  Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of the these mountains and they are regarded by all good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers.  When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; but sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which in the last rays of the setting sun will glow and light up like crown of glory.



A dear painter friend and I stayed at the Greenville Arms 1886 Inn in Greenville, New York, for our 'artist retreat' painting trip.  Kim LaPolla,  fiber artist and director of the Hudson River Valley Workshops and her husband, Mark LaPolla, Chef de Cuisine and Chocolatier cater to artists in an all-inclusive environment meaning Kathy and I were in good artistic company, well fed, well cared for during our week long painting adventure in the Catskills.
http://www.artworkshops.com/index.html







Besides painting the inspiring mountains, we painted looming waterfalls, small ponds and quiet lakes, barns and fields.

We were once buzzed by a drone operated by SUNY scientists studying the growth of trees at Lincoln Pond.

We took afternoon swims in nearby ponds, clandestinely because swimming was not allowed.

• Traveled the Hudson River School Art Trail beginning with Thomas Cole's Cedar Grove, the Main House and Studio

• Visited the historic site, Olana: Hudson River School painter Frederic Edwin Church's home, studio and designed landscape

• Visited the famous Kaaterskills Falls

• Hiked to and painted a breathtaking panorama at the once Catskill Mountain House site at North South Lake

• Toured via of a tram the magnificent, 500 acre large scale sculpture park, Storm King, in New Windsor, NY

                                         artists at work

to read Kathy's blog about the trip
https://k2rsblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/12/2016-plein-air-art-retreat-in-the-catskills-september-5-9/

Egrets, egrets and lots of egrets

Thursday, my painting group met up at the end of Stackyard Road in Rowley, in an area called The Great Marsh.  The skies were a deep cerulean blue with numerous cumulonimbus clouds floating along.

S Jaworski-Stranc, The Great Marsh, oil on panel

What overwhelmed all of us upon our arrival were seeing hundreds of white egrets milling around in the brackish pannes of the marshes.  In the large gathering were Great White Egrets, largest species with black legs black feet and a yellow-orangish bill, Snowy Egrets, smaller in scale with black legs, black bill and yellow feet and a lone Great Blue Heron.  Most likely they were gathering together before heading to their wintering grounds. All of us agreed one may see a couple of egrets hunting for food in the wetlands but not hundreds like this late summer gathering.  This sighting was magical.

        Just think... these beautiful birds were hunted close to extinction for their plumage to decorate women's hats in the 19th century.  In 1890 five million birds were killed annually for the fashion industry. The National Audubon Society was formed in 1895, New York State's Audubon Plumage Law (1910) banned all sales of birds and US legislation such as the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty (1918) helped to put an end to this avian travesty.  Today all of us can enjoy the privilege of watching these spectacular birds grace our landscape and our imaginations as was experienced by the plein air painters.

Oh that wind

I no longer sail.

But...while sitting and painting on a narrow gangway plank leading to a float on the Parker River yesterday, with the wind being of a gusty speed, I was sure my painting easel with an umbrella attached would go sailing across the river. I kept a tight grip on the edge of box at all times.

This breezy outdoor painting experience reminded me of my sailing days when there were times a tight grip on the sail lines and tiller were needed in case the sails needed to luff (to spill the wind) and prevent extreme heeling over.  It was that windy outside and I loved every minute.

Painting at an arm's length from canvass, holding the paint brush close to its end while gripping the easel was a real painting challenge. My applied paint strokes were as choppy as the surface of the waters I was trying to render.

My artist friend, Barbara, came down for a visit and was impressed with what I had delivered to my canvass in so short of time.  She also helped to reclaim some cast-away items of mine from the nearby marsh grasses.  Oh that wind.

Plein air painting

Highly colorful, balanced values

Just finished putting the last colors on another reduction linoleum print, Orange Ladder, a Green Mountain state scene.

I had the pleasure of giving a talk about my prints and the reductive process at 13 Forest Gallery in Arlington last Saturday. A good number were in attendance with many intelligent questions.

Here's a link to blog of one who was in attendance.  Thanks Caroline for your thoughtful comments.
https://suzannesmomsblog.com/2016/08/19/unusual-linoleum-prints/

Orange Ladder will be exhibited at 13Forest's Tenfold Show beginning September 16th.

The value study of the high chroma print:

Artist Talk at 13Forest Gallery

"Diving In" is a talk I'll be giving about my reduction print process, Saturday, August 13th from 4-6P.
Hope to see you there!

Summer Show

Two new reduction prints are on display at the McGowan Fine Art Gallery's Summer Show in Concord, New Hampshire: Appleton's Bouquet and Spring Melt.

Come and check out my color prints as well as the beautiful artwork by other artists.
The show ends August 19th.

Alewives and Bluebacks

Thursday was a beauty of a day for painting at the Jewel Mill along the Mill River in Rowley.  In this river, where many of us were painting along, there a continuous churning of small fish leaping over small rocks in this rushing stream.

The anadromous Alewives or maybe they were Bluebacks are members of the Herring family and were making the springtime run up river to spawn.  These small fish are one important source for bait fish used in the sport fishing of Bluefish and Strippers and for baiting lobster traps.  In the 1960's their populations were in decline due to industrial dams which block access to spawning sites up river and water pollution.  Today with proper river management and fish ladder constructions, these fish which are important to the health of a bio-ecological cycle, are making a comeback.

As I continued walking along the path to the pond, I smelled something putrid.  It wasn't the foul smelling Skunk Cabbage well past spring emergent but dead fish (Alewives) decaying on the path; each with a hole punctured in its abdomen.  I'm guessing...Great Blue Herons had the opportunity to snack on the migrating fish.  Native Americans too awaited each spring for their return to be caught in their fishing weirs set up in streams.

Below is a pic of my plein air painting(8"X20") of the Mill River path: on left side the babbling stream, the other side a quiet pond with wild Irises.