1000 Islands Paintings, Three New York State Parks on Wellesley Island NY, St Lawrence River

   Wellesley Island is about 10 miles long and 4 miles wide at the US Interstate Route 81 to US/Canadian Customs. There are three State Parks on the Island. Wellesley Island State Park has the largest complex of campsites in the 1000 Islands Region (434 which include 10 cabins and 12 cottages) and  the Minna Anthony Common Nature Center. The latter has a loop trail of 3.8 miles (mostly along the waters edge and a number of cross trails in the 1 mile range. The middle trail is  1.13 miles to a beaver pond with picnic tables, an out house, and is rated easy. There are countless plein air painting subjects in the Park and in the Nature Center area. I teach a plein air painting class there from mid June to mid July ( four Mondays). Silver Day is one of the scenes the class painted.

Silver Day at the head of the Bay which  has the sand beach

Winter Sunset Eel Bay on road to the Nature Center

Beaver Pond Nature Center Trail 1.13 miles

Start of Eel Bay Trail at Nature Center

   The next closest Park is Waterson Point State Park which is boat access only, with two docks which can accommodate up to 30 boats. It is on the north side of the Island facing Canada. There are comfort stations (toilets only), and a 100 year old gazebo. On checking the internet listing for the park I noticed that the photo at the top of the page was a view I had painted from 3/4 of the way out on one of the docks. I painted the center section of that view but the photo is inspiration to paint  the panoramic scene shown. That will be on my list  for 2015.  The park is accessed by State employee attendants via a dirt road and one year I got permission for some of my group of plein air painters to get in that way, while some of us came by boat.

Waterson State Park View East

Waterson State Park  Cloudy Day Ivy Lea  in distance

   The third park is Dewolf State Park which has a cabin colony, camp sites, a stone gazebo, and an old gnarled tree at the end of a point that everyone likes to paint. The internet site has both a virtual panning tour and a short slide show. Here is  a link http://www.nystateparkstours.com/dewolfpoint/index.html       The park is located on Lake of the Isles (part of the St Lawrence River) fed by a small stream called  "The Rift" on the east side and joins the main section of the River through a narrows  at the west end. Hill Island Canada borders Lake of the Isles on the west end as well as through the Rift.

Gnarled Tree Dewolf State Park

Me Painting the Gnarled Tree by Jan Byington

Dewolf State Park some cabins and boats

Paintings of and from Wellesley Island NY, 1000 Islands Region, St Lawrence River

I live on Wellesley Island NY, facing the portion of the St. Lawrence River known as the Narrows and  which also serves as the St. Lawrence River Seaway. The Seaway is that portion of the River marked by navigation buoys for the freighter traffic carrying cargo from and to the Great Lakes Region from and to the rest of the world. The island is about fourteen miles long and four miles wide and is connected to the mainland by the US Span of the Thousand Islands Bridge on NY Interstate Route 81. Interstate 81 continues across the island through the US/Canadian Customs, across Hill Island ON, and on to mainland Canada. My last blog showed paintings I had done of the some  of the Victorian style cottages /homes in Thousand Island Park on the western end of the island. I have often said that one could spend a lifetime just painting scenes on  or views from the island. Here are a few I have done over the years.

Spring Walk  9 x 12 inches  oil  (sold)

Blazing Maple 11 x 15 inches watercolor

 Spring walk is a studio painting composition incorporating  two photos. I painted it in 2013 after an early morning walk along Boldt Canal on the eastern end of the Island. I took about 115 photos on that walk. Some earlier blogs show some cattails paintings also inspired by that walk.









This Maple tree is on county route 100 which traverses the 10 miles from the west to the east end of the island. The tree is about 100 yards before turning in the road to my house. I worked from some photos. I can't recall having seen this tree in  this bright shade of orange before or since  then in 2012.

Winter Storm TI Bridge (sold)

TI Bridge from Peel Dock Road 11 x 15 watercolor

I had to drag the garbage can on a tow-bogon 150 yards down the driveway to the paved road  one Sunday night, as the trash vendor would not come up our drive in the winter. It was snowing heavily with about a foot on the ground, no breeze, and  a comfortable 30 degrees F. I put on my cross country skis and put a camera in by pocket for a trip up peel Dock Road toward the bridge. The eerie orange colored  reflection of the bridge lights on the large falling snowflakes and on the ground made a good pic. I did the paintings (18 x 24 inches) years later (January 2011) while in a Van Gogh  impressionistic mood.



The bridge is a popular subject for local photographers and is included in many local artist paintings. I did this from a winter walk photo on a calm morning . The water temperature of the River was higher than the air temperature causing the misty vision of the bridge. The view is from Peel Dock Road.

Three of a Kind, below, is a  2007 painting when I was interested in Chinese Brush painting. It uses Chinese Ink and watercolor. These are Turkey Vultures. A group of about 25 to 30 migrate to the bay in front of our house-fortunately they roost about 150 yards away. They are know as natures garbage collectors. I paddle boat out in the bay with my camera often and this day the birds where enjoying a breeze, Just hanging on the branch while extending their wings. More Wellesley Island paintings next blog.

Three of a Kind 11 x 15 watercolor

   

Thousand Islands Park on Wellesley Island NY, St Lawrence River in the 1000 Islands Region

Wellesley Hotel, Thousand Islands Park, 15 x 22 inch watercolor

    Thousand Islands Park was founded in 1875 as a Methodist Campground. There are over  100 years of rich history, tradition,  and culture. Much can be found on the internet by search so I am not going to repeat it here. It is located on the south west tip of Wellesley Island in the heart of the 1000 Islands Region. It started as a tent city and eventually cottages were added. By 1890 there were 600 cottages and 7000 summer inhabitants. A new larger Pavilion at the waterfront allowed landing of steamships. All access to the park was by water. A 1912 fire destroyed the original Columbia Hotel plus 99 cottages and the business district. The Wellesley Hotel is it's replacement and is in my painting above, as well as the Chapel called Tabernacle (at the far right, centered prominently at the head of the park on St. Lawrence Ave and below). The business district burned down in  again November 2014 and will be rebuilt. A set of  architectural as built drawings had previously been made.  It included the popular breakfast and lunch spot as well as ice cream shop know as the Guzzle, a few small businesses, US Post Office, and the fire department. The fire disrupted the electrical system and the fire fighting  equipment could not  be utilized as the electric door could not be opened. Fire departments from the mainland came to the put out the blaze and save nearby structures, During the depression years of the 1930's  some 200 cottages were torn down.

Victorian Style Home-Coastal Ave West 15 x 22 watercolor and pastel(sold)

Oil 11 x 14 inches, plein air

Coastal Ave W. at Union Ave 15 x 11 watercolor(sold)

   After the 1975 Centennial Celebration there was renewed interest in the Park and in 1976 the Landmark Society was formed to maintain architectural integrity. A number of Victorian style  cottages and homes had been constructed over time. There are numerous inspirations for painting, both en plein air and  studio work from photos and sketches. Over the years the Park has provided me many subjects and will be the source of more.

Coastal Ave West at Island Avenue 15 x 11 watercolor

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Pink Cottage-Plein Air 9 x 12 (sold)

Ginger Bread 11 x 15 watercolor

                                                                          Here are two oldies from 1988. I sat on a stool in the area known as The Green  and with a pad on my lap did some ink and watercolor  renderings using binoculars. The "Iron Cottage"(green) is  a 19th century Carpenter Gothic Revival style cottage.  Turning 180 degrees provided a view of three cottages on Union Ave. My dad was still with us and visiting on vacation. We walked the four miles from our cottage. I sent him to the Pavilion swimming dock to observe the bikinis only a teenage girl would wear and later we walked up to the Guzzle for an double dip ice cream cone.

The Iron Cottage Ink and watercolor 11 x 15

Part Of Union Avenue Ink and Watercolor 11 x 15

Guzzle, Grocery and Fire Dept

Finally, here is  a photo of the Guzzle, Grocery store, and Fire Department section of the business district. Below  is  the current Pavilion which was renovated in the last 10 years.

Pavilion

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 


A LEFT CLICK ON ANY IMAGE  PROVIDES AN ENLARGED VIEW.      

Parade Of Ships ST Lawrence River , 1000 Islands Region

Diamond Star, Volatile Cargo, since purchased by another line and renamed

My  home view of the St Lawrence River includes that portion marked by buoys which is designated the "St Lawrence Seaway". I am on the portion called the "Narrows" in the 1000 Islands Region and just below the Interstate Highway #81 and it's span over the River to Wellesley Island on it way to Canada. In front of the house is Brown Bay and across the other side is Swan Bay. We are set back about 150 yards or so from the shipping channel. From March to almost Christmas there is a constant parade of ships up bound and outbound as well as barges pushed  or towed by tugs, tall ships, and smaller passenger cruisers, and many day cruise vessels for tourists. Sometimes the cargo is visible like wind turbine parts, 5 or six large yachts, fabricated steel parts, and sometimes  invisible in the holds like grains and ores. There is a "Know Your Ships" guide book with listings of the ships and fleet groups, flags of nations, and the colors of smoke stacks which are basically logos. We can feel the vibrations set up in the water and land of many ships long before they they appear in our view. I take many photos as they pass the house, also I venture out in the paddle boat near the edge of the channel and get photos from a low perspective. While out in the power boat a ship will often be encountered and offer a unique view for a photo. Finally, when walking along the Island road that parallels the River, often a passing ship will often appear. Then there is the endless patterns of weather, sunrises, cloud patterns, and setting sun. We don't see sunsets from our location but the setting sun illuminates passing ships and the far shoreline and creates inspiring light effects.  At night the ships pass all lit up. With the movie feature on my digital camera I can capture the reflections in the water, pause the playback, and capture a view for  a painting reference. Here are a few of the ship

BBC Chartering Cargo of Wind Turbine Blades

paintings I have done and I am sure there will be many more. It is not an infrequent occurrence to have two ships passing each other at our observation point. Just the other night this happened and I made a short video with my camera but it was taking two long to upload for this blog. It was cloudy and absent the usual moon lighting. Also, with a little fog, rain, or snow, we are at a spot that gets rattled by horn signals. With modern radar and communications I often wonder  why this is necessary. Sometimes the tourist tour boat captains may request a toot for the entertainment of the tourists.

Two Ships Passing at Night

Upbound empty, anvil cloud pointing the way

Thirteen Stars-Tall ship Lynx at Clayton NY

My Drawing of Images of Lynx

TWO-TREE ISLAND, 1000 Islands NY

Since writing this post on 10/26/14 my painting Two-Tree Island was awarded 3rd place painting in the North Country Arts Council  66th Annual Fall Art Show (Nov. 7-22nd), perhaps the largest regional art show in northern New York State.
A couple of years ago I took an evening ecological nature cruise on a flat bottomed boat with a bunch of other artists out of Clayton NY, which is ten miles up river from my home on Wellesley Island. It was nice to let someone else do the driving while the wine and snacks flowed. We cruised around the River and islands near the shoreline and observed  Osprey, Loons, Herons, Mink, and a variety of birds and waterfowl doing their evening thing. The boat was very stable and allowed for a lot of photos including well know island landmarks, islands, and shoals and great sunset shots. I have created a number of paintings from the photos. The latest one is called "Two Tree Island" and is a combination of a sunset and an uninhabited island. There are over 1800 Islands in a thirty-five mile stretch of the St Lawrence River know as "The 1000 Islands". To qualify as an island there must have least one tree, otherwise it is called a shoal. This particular island had two trees, thus the name of the painting. The trees on the most of the small islands are exposed to prevailing winds which causes a slanted growth as there is not much  depth of soil for the roots to take a firm hold. This painting was on my easel a long time as I waited seven days for layers to dry before drybrushing   or glazing multiple times. The painting is a combination of two separate photos, one for the island, and one of the sunset I best thought suited  the silhouette of the trees. It is 24  by 36 inches, oil on canvas.

Two Tree Island

Calumet Island First Light

 A few other paintings were inspired by my photos on that boat ride. They are "Osprey Perch", 11 x 14 inches, oil on linen, "Calumet Island First Light", 12 x 22 oil, in which I changed the atmosphere to a morning glow, and "Hunkered Down for  Weather", 16 x 20 inches, oil on linen. In the latter painting the Comerants  were settled in on a shoal for the night, which I combined with two earlier photos not taken on the cruise. The morning light was trying to burst through a stormy set of clouds  on the River in front of our home one morning and on a different day the River was roiling from 50 mile per hour winds. I drove up to the west end of Wellesley Island where the wind and wave action is the worst to get some photos. One of these became the water action in the painting. So these photo events were several years apart but some how all gelled into my imagination for the composition. All these paintings may leave one peering into the dark and wondering what else might be there that you can't see. So, they are all just in time for Halloween.

Osprey Perch

Speaking of Halloween!

Hunkered Down for Weather

Crow Woman's Watch- Pen  and Ink 

Great Camp Sagamore, Blue Mountain Lake, 2014 New York Plein Air Painters Retreat

Ten artists and one spouse who was a photographer attended this years retreat at Great Camp Sagamore near Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks. It's nice to have all your meals prepared and be able to get right back to where you had left your easel set up and continue painting. One day was pack you own lunch from well supplied options and I used that day to travel about 16 miles to Blue Mountain Lake and paint the view from the observation deck, high up at the Adirondack Museum.  About a month before the retreat I saw a PBS TV show on the Raquette River which featured a view of lake from the observation deck and I emailed the Museum to get permission to paint the view (after paying admission of course).

Lake Sagamore Exploration Tools

 The Raquette River is the third longest in New York Sate (146 miles,235 km), the Hudson being the longest.Historically, the river was a part of the "Highway of the Adirondacks", by which it was possible to travel hundreds of miles by canoe or guide boat with short stretches of portage connecting various waterways. This route is still followed by the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, a 740-mile (1,190 km) canoe trail from Old Forge to Fort Kent in Maine. It is also the basis of the route of the Adirondack Canoe Classic, a three-day, 90-mile canoe race from Old Forge to Saranac Lake. Blue Mountain Lake is one of the lakes in the River's Chain which eventually enters the St Lawrence Rive near Massena at the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne .
My favorite painting below is of Blue Mountain Lake (11 x 14 oil on stretched linen). At 10:30 AM when I set up the sun was out and roasting me in my wool shirt.About 11 AM it clouded over and stayed that way. This gave me about four hours without the light changing too much. I captured  the land and  reflections values in a burnt sienna under painting  quickly and  then worked on the detail. The 

Blue Mountain Lake

canoe rack above has a sign "Use by Permission Only" and also has a couple paddle boards (12 x 9 inch oil on linen panel).
The Boat house below  has two row boats, multiple aluminum canoes, and some kayaks that you just sign out  and in on your own. Personal flotation devices and paddles of all sizes are available. (10 x 8 oil on linen panel) Prevailing winds are away from the Boathouse so the paddle back is a little longer-don't be late for dinner!
The Lake Outflow is just below the Boathouse.
The afternoon light (4 pm Sept.) is shut off by the trees along the stream while the sun still illuminates the Lake. This is an 11 x 15 watercolor and pen. It was started 4 pm Monday afternoon  with watercolor washes. Tuesday afternoon the ink drawing was superimposed followed by more watercolor. Back home after the trip I put a final wash on the stream and lifted the lights on the rocks.

Sagamore Lake Outflow

Great Camp Sagamore Boathouse

Painting In The Adirondack Plein Air Festival, Saranac Lake NY

Saranac River Permanent Rapids

Black Pond Inlet

Fast Water Saranac River

 The 2014 event had about 80 artists registered, not all of whom displayed for the competition. There were a great many accomplished painters and some advant garde work on display, also,"how could it be plein air if you spent 26 hours on it and it looks like a photo". No one in our group of five from PAPTIR were award winners  or enjoyed a lot of sales success. The event seemed to drain our energy and part of that was having to have your framed paintings in by 9 to 10 am Sunday instead of the past 10 to 11- perhaps because of the record number of artists. It's hard to finish framing, photograph your painting (in case it sells), pack up your suitcase, and leave the rental in decent shape to rescue your security deposit, drive 10 miles, find a parking space, and lug your paintings to the City hall- so early.Yet is is always warming to see painting friends from around New York State and elsewhere and their works displayed on the racks. Of course, only the award winners, agree with the judges choices. In spite of  the litany of text book criteria the judges express as utilized in the process- it all comes down to subjectivity, and the wise let it go at that. On the top left is a 16 x 12 inch oil on linen, Saranac River Permanent Rapids. This section of the Saranac is about 6 miles on River Road from Bloomingdale. For kayaks it is class 3 rapids. It was fun painting it and comfortable in the shade on the bank with a nice breeze. On the top right is Black Pond Inlet, 14 x 11 inch oil on linen. It is located on Keese Mill Road at the back end of Paul Smith's Visitor Interpretation Center (VIC). The VIC is acres of marshes, ponds, trails, streams, used in Paul Smith's College degree programs for Forestry and related disciplines. I painted a 12 x 9 inch version of the same scene (with the large pitcher plant on the foreground log) in the 2013 event and went back to paint it again. The 9 x 12 version was one of two paintings I had hanging in the VIC Plein Air Invitational Show 7/26-8/28. Friday evening at a painters barbecue at the VIC I learned that it had sold to someone from Erie PA.
All of the pieces in the show were done "en plein air" at the VIC.  Eleven artists displayed 21 works.  

Lake Clear Carpenter Road

    The 9 x 12 oil, Fast Water Saranac River, is a painting knife on a linen panel. Painted another late afternoon at the same spot on Permanent Rapids again in the shade in a bug-less breeze. To the right, Lake Clear Carpenter Road, is on the way to our rental camp on Lake Clear. I made a studio painting out of the plein air as I repainted the road and the dappled light. My original road looked like a set of stairs with alternating light and dark strips. Must have been the relentless mosquitoes in the woods. I had loaned my bug spray to the man an woman returning down the hill from a walk with their little dogs. It was quite a challenging hilly, curvy, and bumpy road in sections down to a "Hole in The Woods", which was the Carpenter family original name for the road. This was the only section that was a Birch tree forest.
Looking forward to the 2015 event and have already reserved  the camp we had in 2013.