SNOW DRAWING?????

On Saturday I posted a few photos from a weekend event at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia.
My husband and I participated in Snow Drawing, a unique collaboration between artist Sonja Hinrichsen, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park and over 100 volunteers.

So what did we do? We created huge beautiful spiral patterns all over the hill while wearing snowshoes. It was rather like walking a labyrinth as we slowly created big spirals, little spirals, corkscrew spirals over and over across the hill.

This was the first time I had been to the Art Park in the Winter. It was gorgeous! And covered in snow!

ART CAMP

I have always visited in Summer or Fall. In the last 7 or 8 years I have spent at least two weeks per summer at the Art Park teaching Art Camps for the YMCA. It has been one of my favorite places to teach. I love the concept of blending art and nature. And not just making pictures about nature, but experiencing nature. Getting the kids out on the trails each day to see the sculptures, do a countdown in the "Spaceship", check out the books at "Stacks", catch frogs in the ponds, look for wildflowers and count the Triangles on our way to the Secret Garden, are always tops on my list of activities--oh and making art too!

And somehow the story of Bob and Dorothy Reister and how they started the Art Park always captures young imaginations. By the end of the week the campers can identify Dorothy's pieces around the upper garden area and can even remember names of other artists in the park like David Harper, and Rodger Mack.

So this past weekend I found out that Stone Quarry Art Park is just as much fun in the winter as it is in the summer. 

The Art Park is open all year for hiking, viewing art and enjoying the vistas. Rolling hills, wooded areas and farmlands are all visible from the top of the hill. And right now they are blanketed with snow. On a clear day you can see the wind turbines in Fenner.

So come on out to the Art Park! You'll love it! Even in the winter.


Related Link: Lessons Learned at the Art Park
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Lessons Learned at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park

What's Art Camp?

Every year that I teach YMCA Art Camp at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park I start with the same intention. To fill the half-day camp with art projects, games and a daily hike along the art trails, followed by snack and more art! We walk into the woods, over to the ponds, to the Secret Garden and to the place where it all started, the home of Bob and Dorothy Reister.

Each year I tell the kids the story of Bob and Dorothy and I can't believe how enchanted they are by it. They start taking notice of which sculptures are Dorothy's and ask if Bob was an artist too. And I answer, no he was not an artist but I think he built the house, and the A-frame studio and the barn (which we call the Art Barn).

The Art Barn

Then they start to notice the other names on the sculptures around the Art Park: Rodger Mack, David Harper. And the amazing thing is that they remember them! And tell their parents!

Many times at the Camp Art Show, parents comment on how they had been coming to the park for years with their kids, but didn't know much about the place.  But now after attending art camp the kids seem to feel a sense of ownership. They are the ones giving the tours to their parents and telling them the story of the Art Park. And where to find "Stacks", how to get to the Secret Garden, and the Spaceship in the woods, and which pond has the biggest frogs.

Owls and Snakes

Somehow without really planning it, a sense of stewardship comes into place. The Art Campers care about the art installed in the park and also about the park's natural resources. They become conservationists, explaining the composting toilets to their families and telling their siblings why they shouldn't pick the flowers, or leave the water running in the sink. One day several of the kids tried to work out a plan to send some of our excess rain to California. (By train, in milk tank cars.) I really hope someone can put that plan into action.

More Owls!

So every year, we start with art, but end with so much more. And every year the teacher learns just as much as the students.
Thanks Art Campers!

The Fenner Wind Farm

I Get to Teach in the Coolest Places!!!! Thousand Islands Arts Center and Stone Quarry Hill Art Park

Same Class, Two Locations!

I will be teaching a Pan Pastels Class in 2 locations this summer: the Thousand Islands Arts Center in Clayton and a YMCA class on location at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia.

Both locations are fabulous. With the beautiful St.Lawrence River as a backdrop, the TI Arts Center presents opportunities to capture the effects of light on the water, and billowing clouds scooting across the sky. 

From atop the hill, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia offers majestic vistas of the valley and dramatic skyscapes, not to mention sculptures and installations along the trails and on the hill.

Below is a description of the class
Pan Pastels have all the beauty and vibrant color of traditional pastels, but are a lot less messy! These soft, highly-pigmented colors are blended, layered and applied like paint. You will love the subtle way the colors blend as you capture light effects on the water and billowing clouds sweeping through the sky. There will be ample time to experiment with color blending techniques before you begin your painting. Pastels, paper or amper- sand board, applicators, and other pastel supplies will be provided.

Thousand Islands Arts Center July 20, 21—10am-1pm. Call the TI Arts Center at 315 686-4123 for registration information.$ 76.50 TIAC members; $85. non-members

YMCA at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park August 4, 5 and 6 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. Call the East Area Family YMCA at 315 637-2025 ext 216 for registration information.  $72. YMCA or SQHAP members; $144. non-members.

Summer is a great time to try something new, so maybe I will see you in class!

What's On My Desk at Windy Hill Studio?

What's on my desk at Windy Hill Studio?

Paintings! Postcards! and Plans! to name a few things. As Spring draws to a close and Summer kicks into full gear I find myself with a desk loaded with works-in-progress, and lots of plans for the next few months.

Oh and yes, there's a often a sleepy cat napping in the middle of everything: Tony DiNozzo Applebaum (yes he is named for the fictional NCIS agent) He's not much help in the studio but he seems to appreciate art.

I have 3 recently completed watercolors; Heading Home is pictured above. Some of the best views of our lake are from the vantage point of the kayaks. I took the photo reference for this piece as Rich and I were rounding the last bend on our way back to camp after an early evening paddle. The towering cliffs were just beginning to take on their rosy evening glow.

The other watercolors, a floral and a river scene are awaiting matts and frames. The floral "Red, White and Blue" is pictured below.

Acrylics too!

I also have a couple of acrylic paintings in progress: a still life of an old baseball glove and another version of our rosy evening cliffs on the lake. Images of those will be posted when they are done.
The baseball glove is earmarked for the Baseball Show coming up in Syracuse in August.

Postcards

The postcards are for my upcoming show "Woodlands and Waterways" at the Sackets Harbor Arts Center in August. Opening reception is August 1, 1:00 - 4:00.

Plans???

Always! I have had a couple of interesting offers for shows and partnering. It's all still in the planning stages now, so not much to tell just yet, except that the partnering would be with Syracuse Stage and the show will be at one of the SUNY Oswego Galleries in 2016.

One definite show is scheduled for December 2015 at the Unitarian/Universalist Church in Auburn.
And I'm on the planning committee for a big art/craft show scheduled for June 2016!

Can't Forget Lesson Plans

And of course there are lesson plans. Yep, I'm teaching art camp again this summer at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park. And also an adult class at Stone Quarry: Painting Land, Sky and Water in Pan Pastels. I will also be teaching the Pan Pastels class at the Thousand Islands Arts Center, as well as a Watercolor Class.

Plans???   Always.