Palletteers Paint at Cruzan Gardens

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures. ~Henry Ward Beecher






Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir Yesterday we enjoyed that beauty and felt the healing strength to body and soul as we painted at Cruzan Gardens. For us, it was like playing.. and we loved every minute of it. After a warm welcome from Sally, there were many appreciative comments as we explored the grounds to see what would catch our imagination. Ignoring St. Croix's sudden heat wave, we quickly got entranced with trying to capture the beauty and feeling of our subjects. As brushes swished and colors emerged, the morning flew by. Once again, during our show and tell, there was a mix of florals and architecture... everything was lovely! Oh yes, a few of the artists managed to take advantage of being at St. Croix's #1 plant nursery and made some purchases before we headed to lunch and cold drinks at the 19th Hole. What a great morning!

















Pleasure is spread through the earth In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find. ~William Wordsworth, 1806

Palletteers Paint at the Rivera's

A long winding road took us to the charming Judith's Fancy home of Carmelo and Nilsa Rivera. Their home had a breath-taking view of Triton Bay, Salt River, and the Caribbean which many of us proceeded to try to capture with our paints. We spent the morning enjoying the cool breezes coming from the Northwest and getting acquainted with our lovely hostess while we worked on our paintings. All too soon it was time for "show and tell" which we set up on the steps near the pool (no, none of us fell in!). After the customary oohing and ahing, Carolyn said she wanted to make a speech. I thought that maybe she wanted to tell us that she was going to be going back to South Africa again... which made me even more surprised when she presented me with a gift from the Art in the Garden artists, instead. I think, for once, I was speechless...well, almost! Thank you ALL for your generosity! As many of you know, organizing Art in the Garden is the main focus of my life during the months leading up to the show...in fact, at times, it literally takes over my life. However, helping the Palletteers have their "moment in the sun"....seeing the artists' thrill in being a part of the show... and, of course, hearing all the complements about it... all make it worthwhile for me: it's a true labor of love Thanks you, once again! Your gift is MUCH appreciated... Cheap Joe's, here I come! :^)
Ginger

Palletteers at the Buccaneer

The wind.. that was our biggest challenge on Friday when we painted on the beautiful grounds of the Buccaneer Hotel. The day was gloriously clear and the sea was that special shade of piercing blue, so I'm not complaining. But the wind grabbed and threw my palette to the ground, flung paint at me, tossed my brushes, and kept fluttering my paintbrush as I tried to paint. Ah, the joys of plein air! Despite this challenge, we all got lovely paintings out of the morning.. in fact, during our "show and tell" one island visitor came by and, falling in love with Sondra's painting, bought it on the spot! About 16 of us stayed for lunch.. our group keeps getting smaller and smaller, with a few more of our members heading to the states this coming week. We love all our snowbirds and really hate to see them go... Safe travels.