Cruise Ship Day

A cruise ship was in Frederiksted Friday morning, and so were we! The people who'd stopped to talk brought out our "inner tour guide" and not only did we make some new friends, but I'm sure we also enhanced their positive feelings about St. Croix! The pier area and waterfront looked pristine and lovely, our Christmas winds had died down to gentle, welcome breezes, Crucian music serenaded us from the fort area, and there were smiling faces everywhere! We were definitely immersed in a unique and interesting plein air experience! It was such fun that we talked about repeating it soon!



Sondra
Elwin
Melinda
Ginger
Emy

Ft. Christiansvaern

Only three of us painted this morning, Alma, Emy and I, and we all ended up in the fort itself. There were 35mph wind gusts so we found sheltered places where our easels wouldn't get blown over. It was cool too: both Emy and I donned our sweatshirts! A bevy of Danish tourists came by.. there are over 200 who flew in this week and more are coming week by week! They all seemed to be enjoying their stay here.. one commented to me that Denmark should never have sold the islands! My reply, "Too late!"

Congratulations!

Kudos to Melinda Scott whose painting has been chosen to be the poster art for the annual show of the St. Croix Orchid Society!

Cruzan Gardens

With the arrival of the Christmas winds, it was the perfect time to paint at Cruzan Gardens. Established in the early 60's, this lushly planted nursery is conveniently located mid-island. Although there were only a few of us, we all enjoyed being able to spend our morning painting amidst such a great selection of flora ...and some fauna too!










Ginger's purple bouganvilleaGinger's hybrid bouganvilleaAlma's riverbed
Melissa's flowers
Emy's palms
Melinda's water mill

Painting Outside the Comanche

Only 4 of Palletteers showed up for our painting session on Friday morning. They painted near the Comanche/boardwalk. It was a cruise ship day and Alma opened our Christmas Shoppe for the occasion, upstairs at the Comanche, but only a disappointingly few people trickled in. I was away but I'm glad to see my sign got put to use!

Great work, ladies!
Ginger

Our Glamour in the Garden

The night of the gala, our Artistree looked gorgeous, lit up and decorated with 92 mini pieces of art framed by Betsy Campen! It drew many admirers, rightly so!
To our contributing artists: Thank you! Thank you!When the live auction began, WAPA struck and all the lights went out, including those strung on all the trees! The Garden's new generator hadn't yet been hooked up so we sat there in the dark! Then people dug out their cell phones and flashlights while other quick thinkers went to their cars outside and turned them around so their headlights shone in to light up the Great Hall and the bidding began. It was still pretty dark ...I don't know how they managed to see the bidders. I don't know if it was due to the power outage or to the economy but the bidding was the lowest I've seen in years and it was a disappointing finale to the event. Ginger

Busy weekend...

We're having a busy weekend. It began yesterday morning with us decorating this year's Artistree at the Botanical Garden. Carolyn Emy, and Cynthia helped me and the work went really smoothly. The tree looks gorgeous! Then this morning we painted at Emy's. Only 4 of us showed up but we still enjoyed the glorious morning and views. Tonight's the Glamour in the Garden big gala at the Botanical Garden when our tree and about 9 others will be auctioned off to the highest bidders to raise funds to support the garden. Early tomorrow morning I'm flying to the states for a week...busy busy busy!