En Plein Air at the Tapped Oak Sugar Shack, Northern NY

My 9 x 12  plein air of the Sugar Shack

Jerry Merrill and Jan Byington

 It is April 13 as I write this and a hard to believe 75 degrees F. We painted on  Saturday March 30 on a cloudy 40 degree day and the next day another 9 inches of snow blanketed the area. This was  our first plein air outing since last November so it was like a spring training camp getting back in the grove.
 The Sugar Bush got it's name as the beginner owner tapped an oak tree. Just today the Sunday paper had an extensive front page article about making syrup from walnut tress as well as  birch trees and detailed much information on the advanced technology currently used to produce maple syrup.
Jerry's painting in the photo is completed as he started early, living just a few miles from the the site. Jan's is in progress. To see closeups of Jan's finished painting as well as Jerry's here is the link to Tapped Oak Sugar Shack Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/tappedoak

When we entered the shack  to get a mid morning warm up we were greeted with pancakes, syrup, ans sausage patties and an assortment  of beverages on tap. By the time we finished the paintings and went back to the shack there was  more food selections and quite a party in progress with the neighbors.  As the web site says: "Produced by Scott, Joe and Jay, 10 kids and 3 dogs."  The sounds of kids playing rang out in the woods all morning. The reddish brown Labrador in my painting is quite up in age and kept me company yet had his eyes on the activity in the shed. He later followed me, hobbled into the shed and gracefully deposited himself on the floor near the still  and in the middle of the party. If you check out the Facebook page you'll see why we hope this will be an annual outing for us. Sorry for  all our snowbirds who paint with us and are still in warmer climates.

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