UPDATES FROM MY ARTIST IN RESIDENCE EXPERIENCE AT CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN PARK, OCTOBER 2012.

CMP is part of our National Parks system, and in located on Rt. 77, Thurmont, MD.  Scroll back to earlier posts to see other information!  Life in Good Luck Lodge at the very peak of the park at Green Meadow was great!  The cabin was simple but well equipped for a comfortable 2 week residency.  The weather was awesome...fall in the mountains...what is better?  Showers of gold and russet,  morning mists and bright days...the very best scenario to foster creativity!

As part of the residency agreement, I was able to provide a 4 hour meet and greet the public, working on a new piece and speaking with park visitors.  I also did a lengthy presentation at Thumont High School's Art Department, concerning how to work from photographs when using natural themes in painting.

 Kids always make for great audiences!  Many questions, and several were brave enough to actually take my brush and work on my piece! Please note that faces are obscured in compliance with publication rules which govern the protection of children. 

EVERGREEN HERITAGE CENTER ARTS WORKSHOPS UPDATE...NEW FOR 2013!  I will be conducting a total of 6 workshops this year at Evergreen.  Here is an outline of the first 3!  We had such a great response back in the fall of 2012...we have decided to build the program!!  For more information on the work of Evergreen, please go to:  http://www.evergreenheritagecenter.org/    Evergreen is located on Trimble Road, Mt. Savage Maryland. Workshop participation is limited, so reserve a spot early! More information will be forthcoming!

The Evergreen Heritage Center (EHC), a scenic historical property in Allegany County, offers learning opportunities for both children and adults.  Last fall, the EHC Foundation successfully conducted a pilot of its new Environmental Arts program which offered participants the opportunity to attend a workshop conducted by local artist Maggie Pratt in which they learned about sunflowers, and created oil paintings of these beautiful plants. Several participants requested that we continue this program and offer a series of workshops in which both budding and experienced artists could learn more about our environment and capture their experiences on canvas, in sketchbooks, and/or in journals.  As a result, in 2013, the EHC Foundation is offering a series of Evergreen Artist Workshops.  The first of three spring workshops is The Trees of Evergreen (April 21).  This workshop will explore the heritage evergreens planted at the EHC over 100 years ago.  Participants will receive instruction on basic sketching, oil techniques, composition, etc. and then engage in a brief “walk and talk” during which they will learn the history and characteristics of these majestic trees and draw sketches that will augment photos provided by the instructor.  Participants will then have the opportunity to create oil paintings of their chosen subject(s).  The second spring workshop is Macro Nature (May 19).  This workshop will teach participants how to use small discoveries to make create larger abstract paintings.  Attending artists will have the opportunity to collect blossoms, leaves, stones, pinecones, and other nature treasures; to develop drawings of these elements; and then to create a painting expressing their discoveries.  The third spring workshop is The Evergreen Landscape (June 16).  This workshop will explore landscape painting, including its role in historical preservation, and the Hudson River School painters and their use of color.  Attending artists may then create a painting from a variety of photos of the Evergreen Heritage Center landscape.  All workshops will be conducted by artist Maggie Pratt.

Early Winter, Old National Road SOLD just before Christmas in an interesting scenario.  I lived in this house at one time, and have many stories about that experience.  I made this painting mostly for the sake of the beaver nest, which the State of Maryland said had to go...it was posing a threat to a nearby culvert under Old Route 40.  But it was not. They took it away, and in 2 weeks, the beavers had reclaimed their home.  The State came in and drained the whole pond, regardless of protestations from the property owner at the time, a fiend of mine for many years.  After I did the painting, I sent him a copy in a Christmas card, several years ago, thinking he might enjoy the piece.  He in turn passed it on to the new owner of the house, whose brother made a great effort to find me and purchase the piece as a gift for his brother.  The painting now hangs in the very house of its content.  I will add a photo of it in its new home soon.  There is also a great deal of local history associated with the house and the area, know as the Shades of Death. I will also condense and post some of it, keeping history and folk legends alive.