Palletteers Participate in 100% for Haiti Benefit Art Show

The opening reception for the 100% for Haiti Benefit Art Show took place Friday night. The walls of Mike Walsh's gallery were hung with more than 100 pieces of great art that had been donated for the show. The idea behind the show, which began its planning 100 days prior to the opening, had been 100 artists donating their artwork so that 100% of the profits from the sales could go to two Haitian charities.



I was so proud to see that 23 artists who've painted with the Palletteers including my daughter and Elizabeth's, both Jennifer's :^),contributed pieces of art to the show. The paintings, photos, and jewelry were not only wonderful peices of art but they were also very reasonably priced.
Jane
Marcia
Elisa
Jenny
Brenda
Brenda
Melinda
Elizabeth
Sondra
Phyllis
Phebe
Pam
Nancy
Marilyn
Margaret
Linda
Kitty
Karol
Jennifer
Jan
Helen
Ginger
Emy
Charlotte
Brenda

The show runs for the rest of the week. the Palletteers have certainly given their support so we're hoping now that the community does too, and that every piece of artwork sells. If you can't get to the show and would like to purchase a piece of art that's for sale, go to the show's sale site http://www.100percent4haiti.org/sales-gallery/ to see the cost and then call 340-773-2022 to give Mandy your payment info.
Ginger

Palletteers at Cane Bay

Ah, a day painting at the beach: what could be more relaxing? When I first arrived at Cane Bay, around 8:45 AM the beach looked serene and there were only a few people taking a morning swim. Looking out at the sea I noticed a series of breakers continuously making their way to the beach. I quickly found a gigantic old tree that provided a huge natural umbrella of shade, proceeded to set up under it, and decided to paint the view looking west, one of my favorites on St. Croix.

I no sooner had my easel set up and my paper palette pad on the easel's tray when "whoof" a gust of wind blew my palette forward and off the easel. Ut oh, so it's going to be one of those days.. ok, ... so I got out my blue masking tape and taped my pad to the tray. Unfortunately, this didn't prove to be a good enough defense against the gusting wind as no sooner did I have my dollops of oil paints laid out on this very same palette but the wind came again and blew the entire easel over! There went my jars of mineral spirits and medium... OY! Luckily I had more MS and there was just enough medium left in its jar that I could still paint..

I quickly figured out that it must be a cruise ship day as people got unloaded from more than one taxi van to enjoy a day at the beach. Some Cruzan entrepreneurs were already there to take advantage of the opportunity: a gal who'd brought a trailer of beach chairs to rent to beach-goers, and a Rose's RoadKill guy who drove up and set up his hot dog stand on the road outside the fenceline. So, while we battled the wind, with visions of Dorothy and Kansas in our heads, holding onto our palettes (I hadn't been the only victim of the wind) and easels, paints and papers, the beach-lovers had a lovely day in the surf!



Because it was soooo windy and there was absolutely no place on the beach where we could put our paintings on display without the chance of them falling down, flying away, or getting sand imbedded into them, we adjourned to Rowdy Joe's to have our "show and tell" before a yummy lunch.









Of course, what's a day painting plein air without a little excitement, right? We all had a great time and now we've another story to tell about why we LOVE painting plein air!
Ginger

100% for Haiti

Tonight is the opening night for the big art show/sale: 100% FOR HAITI. More than 100 artists from here on St. Croix, the neighboring islands, and even the states (my daughter who lives in Chicago along with many snowbird Palletteers)have contributed their paintings to this very worthy cause. Preparations for this show began almost 100 days ago...thus the real name: 100 days, 100 artists, 100% for Haiti! It's sure to be a great exhibit and hopefully a great fundraiser too! Only $10 admission, Walsh Gallery in Peter's Rest. The show will only run for a week. Please support it.
Ginger

Palletteers Paint At & Near the Club Comanche

We always love to paint in Christiansted and yesterday was no exception. It was a cruise ship day but you couldn't tell this by the meager smattering of people sauntering through town. We did find some local characters (I've pictured a few)..


...but decided to paint the architecture instead. Like many of you, I spend at least half an hour at the beginning of my Friday painting session trying to decide what to paint from the many vistas offered.. and in town there are a gazillion of them! Once I'd made my choice of two little houses in Kings Alley under some huge almond trees, the painting went so quickly that I was even finished (as much as could be done ala prima) early.








Hot! Hot! Hot! Midway though the morning I looked down at my deep pink t-shirt and saw all these dark red stains. How, I wondered, could I have possibly gotten cadmium red on my shirt when it wasn't even on my palette? Oops... blame it on our returned heat wave: just sweat! I wasn't the only sufferer and the question of the day was, "Where is this strange weather coming from?" Hope it isn't any indication of a broiler of a summer! After a good show and tell in front of the Club Comanche our small group quickly sought a cold drink and healthy food at our favorite health food restaurant, Lalita's.

Palletteers Paint at the Mac Donald's

What a beautiful time we had on Friday when we painted at the home of Tom and Ruby Mac Donald. Even though the unexpected heat wave St. Croix had been experiencing for the prior week continued, we were kept cool by the soft breezes coming in from the sea and able to focus on capturing the crystal blues of the sea and the rich greens of the countryside. There were views from every room and patio.. so we spread out and had a painting "field day"! The quiet of the morning was disturbed only by the flapping of the occasional sailboat as it tacked through the bay and the chatter of the artists. Our morning's activities sure worked up an appetite! We really appreciated the lasagna, salad, garlic bread, fruits, and dessert (2 kinds!) that Ruby had ready for us and I'm afraid we ate with much gusto! It was the perfect finale to our perfect painting morning! Thanks Ruby and Tom!
Ginger