Sketchbook

I baked lots of Christmas cookies this year. For these I pulled out some paintbrushes. Here’s wishing a very happy holiday to all!

I returned from a trip to Georgia to news that my painting “Ayala Weekend” received an Honorable Mention as part of this year’s Los Gatos Art Association’s Annual Juried show. This means a great deal to me because I so admire the judge, Kim Lordier. Plus … between us friends can I also just say … there is ample self doubt that comes with this painting stuff and it is so lovely to receive an unanticipated affirmation. Thank you Kim!

Jekyll Island is 7 miles long and 2 miles wide. It’s situated between the Intercoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. The paintings in this post were done on on the Atlantic side. The scene above gives a glimpse of the dunes that offer protection.  Native sea oats are key to the process. They  grow and gather up sand berms. Stepped up wooden walkways straddle the dunes enabling them to remain undisturbed by visitors.

Jekyll’s Atlantic side beaches are broad, the sand is fine and well packed. They absolutely perfect for taking long walks, watching shorebirds and listening to the waves.

After one of our walks we stayed for sunset margaritas and tacos at Tortuga Jacks a combo that is perfection. We also appreciated having access to the terrific pool, restaurant and beach chairs available to us at the Jekyll Ocean Club (which is managed by the Jekyll Island Club). It was great having access to both properties with on-call friendly shuttle drivers to take us back and forth.

 

Jekyll Island … I’ll be back!

 

I’m just back from a fun week on Jekyll Island Georgia. Though we were worried on the bumpy flight into Brunswick Georgia, the projected hurricane missed us. As a result, we had bluster and blue skies and I was able to get in some painting every day.

The turquoise fishing boat in the painting above was docked about 200 yards from our hotel room on the western side of Jekyll Island in the  Intercoastal Waterway.

I knew the moment I saw this boat, I knew I’d paint it. I enjoy painting boats but particularly like colorful boats. There is something a little boring about a marina chocked full of white fiberglass. Anyway, this fishing boat is named “The Other Side.” Its owner, James, mostly uses it to take kids from his church out fishing. He invites them to bring kids who aren’t affiliated with the church too. At least that’s what I heard from a local resident who greatly admires him.

 

I painted the scene below of dawn in low country Georgia from the wharf as well … just facing the other way toward Jekyll Island. Both paintings were painted early in the morning and there is something kind of delightful about painting before breakfast.

I just returned from a great trip to the Georgia low country. We stayed at the historic and beautiful Jekyll Island Club. After 1900 and before WWII, Jekyll Island was the exclusive playground of 200 of America’s wealthiest. Most members arrived on the Jekyll Island Wharf by private yacht to enjoy manicured surroundings with mossy oaks and slender palm trees.

There are three watercolors in the slider below. The first is of the white adirondak chairs at the hotel’s entrance. The second is a sketch of some ladies knitting to pass the time during a rain shower on the veranda. The third is of the Jekyll Chapel which is notable for its intact Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows. My panting which was done from a bench outside doesn’t show off the windows but they are beautiful when seen from the inside of the chapel.

There is a great deal of history packed on this little Georgia island. Way, way back, it was a seasonal indian fishing camp. The history turned dark in the 1700 and 1800’s with a legacy of slavery. Today, there are about 800 people who live on Jekyll and welcome vacationers like me.

Recently, I went on a bit about the beauty of Sussex County New Jersey with a post that included some of my watercolors from the trip. This was the first time I also took oil painting gear on a vacation as I was able to manage things in a way that was compact and solvent free.

The paintings in this post are oil paintings of the historic Waterloo Village State Park. The painting above is one of the many historic buildings in the restored 19th century village along the once commercially important Morris Canal.

Waterloo Village is a charming place to stroll and have a picnic and paint. There are many classically dutch buildings and working structures (sawmill, blacksmith shop and so on). Strolling around gives one a sense of things from 100+ years ago and the setting is lovely. The painting below is of one of the bridges crossing an off-shoot of the canal.

 

When you think of New Jersey, I’d bet that you don’t think of horse farms.  The one in the painting above is in Andover New Jersey. Until recently, when I thought of New Jersey, it was the urban centers across the Hudson River from Manhattan that came to mind. For others, it’s the Jersey Shore. My images of New Jersey have changed though as I now have family living in Sussex County (New Jersey’s lake district).

Our September visit this year found us enjoying apple picking at a charming commercial orchard in Randolf NJ. It was the first day of the picking season and absolutely delightful.

I love eating outside on a nice day so the wharf side restaurants on Lake Hopatcong were right up my alley. The view from Alice’s was great and The Windlass Restaurant is on a wharf which brings up images of summers on a boat.

We used our stay at a hotel in the area as an opportunity for exploration. Sussex County New Jersey is just an hour away from the Poconos in Pennsylvania and we enjoyed hiking at Skytop.

Of the local hikes in Sussex county we really enjoyed trails in the Allamuchy Mountain State Park. This watercolor was painted near Lake Jefferson along the Musconetcong River near a small waterfall.

Another hike in the area that was was great was in the Andover in the same area as the horse farm at the opening of this post. There, the trail in Kittinny Valley State Park follows the shore of Lake Aeroflex which has a tiny airstrip at the end.

Family ties will certainly take us back to New Jersey many times and that’s a good thing.

 

 

I didn’t bring oil paints to Colorado but did bring a compact watercolor set-up and painted every day. I’m working to improve my paintings of aspen trees. Here are a few paintings from this trip.

On this visit to Colorado, it was very noticeable that there were more Aspen in areas that had had bark beetle damage to evergreens. Like so many things, it’s a cycle. Small evergreens grow among Aspen eventually crowding out the light. The evergreens succumb to avalanche or fire or beetles and make way for aspen.

I am going to the Plein Air Convention in Denver in May so will certainly have a chance of more Aspen paintings then. Plus there is always my backyard birch tree which makes a pretty good stand-in.

My husband and I were recently in Aspen to celebrate our 25th anniversary. A highlight was taking a gondola to the top of AJAX to the exact spot of our wedding. The watercolor above is of the view from the top of Aspen Mountain where we celebrated champagne toasts all those years ago and again now.

Aspen is a delightful town. Unlike some ski resorts, the streets don’t roll up in the summertime. Aspen is full of historic buildings from the late 1800s when this area was awash is silver mining riches. A couple of the mornings we were there, I was able to paint at the corner of Galena Street and Hyman Avenue. The painting above includes the historic Aspen Elks Lodge.

We didd a fair amount of hiking while we were in the area. The Maroon Bells area is particularly stunning. This view is from Crater Lake which is a ~2 hour hike from Maroon Lake at the base. I painted this one fast. Just 20 minutes before we really needed to head down again.

It was our first time in Aspen in many years but we left anxious for a return trip.