Clayton NY Plein Air Paintings Number 5

July and August 2016 were hot and humid in the 1000 Islands region of NY.  On August  10 Plein Air Painters Thousand Islands Region (PAPTIR) was scheduled to paint in Clayton NY and it was quite warm and sunny. Fortunately Clayton gets a good breeze off the St Lawrence River. I set up my easel on a street crosswalk which is part of a circular parking area and which gets heavy foot traffic with people crossing the street, so I had a lot of public attention and comments. This is something the plein air artist get's used to.  My subject was Bella's restaurant. I set the two legs of my easel up on the raised flower garden so I would minimize interference with pedestrians. The flower bed also served as earth to push my sun umbrella into. There was a large vertical 5 inch diameter electrical conduit and box for lighting and power just behind the easel and umbrella. I used that to  bungee cord both the umbrella and easel to. This would keep the occasional gusts of wind from blowing both over. When I was near finishing the painting a town employee arrived to water the garden and we had and interesting chat which included the huge amount of water  he had to use because of the very  hot dry summer we were experiencing.
It turns out I was the only artist in our group who ventured out to paint that day. Here is my painting.

Bella's Restaurant (Oil  9 x 12  $240)

 In contrast to the weather in August we had some very nice days in November. Below is a painting from November 2nd done in French Creek Marina on a sunny 60 degree F day. The marina was busy with numerous boaters tucking up their boats for winter storage. I had a painting buddy that day and one other artist at another marina. We get together at 1 pm for lunch and then return to our setups to finish up our paintings. The boat on the left is Issandra from Montreal Ontario and the boat on the right is Anodyne from Black River NY.

Sailboat Sad Times (oil 9 x 12 $240)

 In the summer of 2015 I painted "Breaking Muskie", a 400 pound steel sculpture by local sculpture Will Salisbury. It was installed in 2014 and was commissioned and paid for by 16 local residents and fishing guides. The muskie represents the great fishery of the 1000 Islands. The chairs are to the right of a covered pavilion recently constructed in the resemblance of a train station which once occupied the space many years ago. There is a large fishing lure below the jaw of the Muskie's mouth as it breaks water trying to shake the lure and line loose.

Breaking Muskie (9 x 12 oil $ 240)

 Finally, outside the Clayton Village boundary but in the Town of Clayton on Route 12 E  is the Lightning B Stables which boards horses. We have painted there twice and are kept company by a cat,  the chickens, and a goat.There are usually 4 or 5 horses in various pastures, a pond , a large barn and other out buildings and farm equipment for subject matter.  I had lots of pigeon and barn swallow company when painting the hay loft  on the second floor of the barn.  Below the loft is a painting of some dusty saddles on the first floor which also houses a tack room of numerous currently in use saddles and harnesses. Perhaps the latter will be captured in a future painting.

Barn Swallows (8 x 10 oil $180)

Dusty Saddles (8 x 10 oil $180)

Painting Clayton NY 3 Way Back to 2008

Artist House, Dial Gardens (watercolor and pastel)

Well, the busy plein air painting season is over for the year for me, so I have time once again to blog.
When I blog about Clayton NY I include the Town boundaries which extend to Grindstone island and T.I. Park on Wellesley Island, and a distance to the west and south of the Village of Clayton. Way back in 2008 before I formed Plein Air Painters Thousand Islands Region (PAPTIR) in 2009, the Thousand Islands Arts Center in Clayton and Mary Dial conducted a day of opening the Dial Gardens to plein air painters. It was a chance to meet other painters interested in painting from life outdoors and visit the Dial Gardens, which are included in the Garden Club of America's Collection in the Smithsonian Institute.
A video documenting the celebration of Mary Dial's contributions to the 1000 Islands Region which depicts the gardens in detail can be found in  the Sept 13th, 2014 monthly issue of  www.thousandislandslife.com if the link below does not work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tO-qGPqUTeQ
There is a tab to go to back issues easily. A link is below. In the article "A special Thanks To Mary Dial" there is a video of the gardens and showing a few artists.  I appear about 1 minute into the video in a dark shirt, baseball cap, and khaki pants, painting "Garden Respite", shown below. The gardens are extremely beautiful and now under different private ownership.

Last Light (watercolor)

Garden Respite (watercolor and ink, sold)

 I painted all three of these from one spot by the rotating my easel. "Last Light" captures the  late light illuminating  a gold colored sculpture atop a pole.

Plein Air Painting Clayton NY Over The Years Number 2

Here are a couple of paintings I completed in the 2nd and 3rd Plein Air Contests I organized in Clayton NY in  2010. A local businessman sponsored the award money to attract the artists because he felt artists in the streets would be good  for attracting tourism and benefit the community. The events were organized as fund raisers for the T. I. Arts Center, Clayton NY. Two events were held in the same year in an attempt to help plan for future events by determining which time frame might attract the most bidders for painters. Turns out a lot more business participation and promotion would be required to attract silent auction bidders and the events were the last to be held.

James Street Facade (private collection)

Bella's Restaurant (private collection)

James Street Facade depicts two local well know businesses, River Rat Cheese on the left and Porch and Paddle (all things for the cottage). Bella's  started out as breakfast and lunch and has expanded to dinner in the last few years. They have a deck facing the St Lawrence River.

Prints of these can be purchased at robert-p-hedden.pixels.com, as well as for the paintings below.

Zenda Farm Haying Time (private collection)

Sissy Danford Gazebo-Grindstone Island (available)

Below is a fall view of the hay fields on Zenda Farm. The Farm is part of the Thousand Islands Land Trust (TILT) land preserves and is  historical for it's corrugated metal exterior construction used on all of the buildings. The grounds host an annual picnic for TILT members and the public as well as a cooperative summer vegetable garden. Haying is only done in the fall so that there will be nesting locations for birds which nest in grasslands rather than trees or bushes.

Sissy Danford Gazebo is at Picnic Point State Park, boat access only, on Grindstone Island. It is dedicated to Sissy for her outstanding work and leadership in the formative years of the Thousand Island Land Trust. It was the site of  one of New York States historic gazebos and was rebuilt with private funds. About 25 yards to the left of the gazebo is  a fireplace and picnic facility for "Shore Dinners", hosted for fishing groups  by the local fishing guides. Boaters register at Canoe Point State Park about 1/2 mile to the right of Picnic Point, prior to docking here for a lunch or dinner picnic. The Gazebo is also reachable by trail from Canoe Point State Park. In the painting, above the picnic table is the top portion of a sail boat mast. The small bay usually hosts a few sail boats. Far back in the bay where it is quite and secluded, one can usually spot a loon couple with their youngsters.