Autumn is pushing at the back of my mind. I could feel it occasionally this week, spending the best part of 5 days outside en plein air painting for the
Adirondack Plein Air Fest. It is that one or two little whispers of a breeze that floats in under the tee shirt - cooler than the sunshine appears. Just a whisper.
More than once this week Van Gogh was spoken of, the patron saint of plein air artists. His tramping through French fields, to paint the countryside, was nothing like what 50 SUV equipped artists did in the last week. For a majority of the participating artists, the panic to complete work in five days, the hell bent for leather pace allows only for a brief relationship with the land. Yet the plein air painters’ ability to see vs. look, made up for the lack of year-round intimacy with the Adirondacks. The works are spectacular and well worth taking a long look this afternoon at the many familiar places we who live here know from hiking or passing by at 55 mph. Take the time to visit Harrietstown Town Hall today, where these visions of the last week reside for a mere 5 hours, 12-5 and fall in love with the Adirondacks all over again.
Where I ended up was in several comfortably familiar spots. With exception of Chris and Beth's’ cows, each venue knew me and I knew it. Home field advantage one can call it. I managed to push myself and made seven images. These are long days, yet it seems too quick even for one who is familiar.
Which brings me back to Autumn, the gorgeous transition time, when even the familiar is in flux every day. For the last 2 years, I have used October to make small color studies of these Adirondacks, capturing backyard and familiar spots and venturing further afield to gather new views in their Autumn finery.
These Autumn jewels, 31 in 31, will be available to view on my Facebook page and on my website. I will be getting my act together to hook up with the Daily Painter website where the work will be auctioned off on a daily basis.
Because as you - kind reader know, artists eat too and head home after a day in the field to the same bills we all have. Do consider visiting Saranac Lake today and take in the works of 50 artists and consider the grant you give to an artist by purchasing a piece of your favorite place, the Adirondacks. The exchange gives you kind reader, a piece of the fleeting Adirondack summer and your artist the grant to continue in the pursuit of those moments.
