"Sunrise on the Lake" (top) and "Sunrise Water Study" (bottom)

Despite it being a gray and misty day the heavy rain had graciously stopped making a perfect welcome for the few days my friend Anne and I would be spending in the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York.

After making more than a half dozen trips to my car unloading food stuffs, clothing for all weather conditions, reading material and my most important cargo – painting and drawing supplies – I started a pot of coffee brewing while Anne and I each prepared our respective lunches to be enjoyed beach side (rain or shine)!

I don’t live near a significant body of water. With the exception of accumulated rain in ditches and deep puddles I rarely get the chance to spend time near water though I have been known to bathe from time-to-time. So with a mug of hot coffee in-hand I wandered onto the deck to take in the view of Fourth Lake. There are two small islands just off shore and thousands of evergreens covering the “young mountains” that surround the Lake. An indigo sky and rainy mist provided a soothing monochromatic backdrop for eating my lunch lakeside.

After lunch Anne and I decided we’d head out to Inlet – the closest town – and check out the local shops. We were far from alone in this remote Adirondack wilderness as other vacationers with the same agenda had converged there. We strolled and browsed in the local bookstore and what-not shops filled with everything bear-related.

Black bear are known to frequent these parts. The Adirondack Mountain Club website clearly states, “When you camp in the Adirondacks, you’re in black bear country.” Posters warning visitors to refrain from feeding the bears can be seen in nearly every shop. I personally had no intention of sharing my porridge or my PB&J with a hungry bear. Though I secretly would not have minded seeing a bear I would prefer to be safely inside while doing so.

After looking at more than my fair share of “Made in China” mementos trying to be passed off as authentic Adirondack keepsakes we checked into the local pizzeria ordering their vegetarian delight covered in mozzarella and some cold beverages – delicious! Having eaten our fill we headed back to our temporary lakefront home to paint the evening away.

It was nice to be disconnected from television and Internet temporarily. I’d decided before leaving that I would use this trip as a time to focus on sketching. Sketching and flexing my artistic muscles without the pressure of producing a finished piece. Ultimately that decision has set me free in a way. Free to try anything…and why not… nothing ventured, nothing gained. And after all that’s what sketching is for – to practice seeing and translating what is seen onto paper.

We painted into the night in silence much of the time. It was easy there to let go of your worries and breathe in then breathe out releasing pent up tension and just being in harmony with you’re your creativity.

August 25th, Eagle Bay, Watercolor Sketch "A Light Mist"

Wednesday morning was overcast and gray. My friend, Anne, and I were scheduled to meet early and head North on I-87 toward Glens Falls, New York. Our first stop – as we headed toward the Adirondacks – would be at The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls where the Andrew Wyeth exhibit is on display until September 5, 2010. Since our room would not be ready until early afternoon what better way to “kill time?” The Wyeth exhibit was awe-inspiring and included more than thirty works in watercolor, pencil and egg tempera.

I’d never visited The Hyde, which is a real shame being an easy hour and a half hour drive from my home. The Hyde was the residence of Louis and Charlotte Hyde whose wealth was accumulated as owners of Finch Pruyn & Company, Inc., a paper mill located a short distance from the mansion. The Hyde’s collection includes works of Botticelli, El Greco, Raphael, Rembrandt, and Rubens plus modern masters Cézanne, Degas, Picasso, Renoir, Seurat, and van Gogh as well as a significant group of works by American artists including Eakins, Hassam, Homer, Peto, and Ryder. After Louis Hyde’s death in 1934 Mrs. Hyde continued acquiring artwork and became responsible for more than two-thirds of the overall collection. Impressive and a real bonus to the Wyeth exhibit.

The works of Wyeth on display were diverse from loose and spontaneous watercolors (“The Road to Friendship”) to the more tight and controlled egg tempera (“Her Room” and “Cooling Shed“). And then there were those few pencil drawings – my favorite – (“Christina’s Head” and “James Loper”) seeming to have been executed with precision coupled with a relaxed ease.

I examined each piece with deep concentration and observation wanting to imprint the details of these master works in my mind for retrieval later. Nothing can replace seeing the original work. Nothing can replace that kind of visual education. What a treat to be near a well-known painting like “Master bedroom” seen over and over again in print but proving so much more captivating in real life. I was a smitten Wyeth groupie seeing the “artistic rock star” for the first time.

With my mind full to overflowing Anne and I headed north again on I-87 exiting in Warrensburg in order to pick up Route 28, which would take us all the way to our destination, Eagle Bay. Winding along Route 28 with its rising and falling mile after mile generously revealing panoramic views around every bend was a treat in spite of the “slap, slap, slap” of my windshield wipers cleaning away the steady rain.

Small and large lakes with misty views and evergreens reaching for the sky made it difficult to watch the road at times. We drove through only a few small towns where weary and wet vacationers were browsing with beach time out of the question on this wet and rainy afternoon.

Our early afternoon arrival was timed perfectly with “check-in” and the rain had kindly stopped by then. Let me clarify that check-in simply means driving by the office and unloading into an unlocked, lakefront efficiency. Anne and I both agreed that we’d only forgotten to pack “the kitchen sink.”