Palletteers at Sondra's

Quite a few people showed up to paint at Sondra's Green Cay home Friday morning, surprising since the Palletteers are often scattered across the world on their own holidays during these hotter months. We were so pleased to finally meet the Porters, Marvin and Shirley, who now reside in Pennsylvania but were active members of the Palletteers back in the latter half of the 90's. Jenn and Carolyn stopped by to say "hello" too. You might be able to tell that several of us experimented with our paintings, seeking variety and improvement in our artwork. Alma continued exploring a combination of working with watercolor and palette knife techniques, Brenda painted in pastels, Margaret worked on a quilt-like pattern, Kate produced one of her hidden image watercolors, and I tried out a trans-red oxide undercoat to lay in my values. It's always interesting to see the differences in paintings of essentially the same views: different techniques, different styles, all distinctive and lovely, eh? While we painted and later at lunch, Sondra, Marv and Shirley entertained the rest of us with tales of the group's early days. It's always so interesting to have returnees join us and we love painting at Sondra's!

Palletteers Paint at Creque Dam Farm (VISFI)

As I drove along Creque Dam Road with directions to the farm on the seat next to me, I wondered more than once if I'd missed a turn or gone the wrong way. Just about the time when I thought seriously about turning around and going back, the sign for Creque Dam Farm appeared to my left! We were greeted by Shelly, who took us on a short walking tour around the nearby parts of the property. Bananas, loofah and passionfruit vines, pineapple plants, medicinal and gorgeous flowering bushes...Wow! It was impressive and beautiful!






We were captivated by chief rooster Pablo, who proudly strutted his stuff while we snapped his picture!He even managed to get himself into one of the paintings! What a ham!



While some picked subjects around the community center to paint, a few of us took the self-tour maps and drove out to the tree house which was the original community center for the farm. Of course, the treehouse brought out the "child" in a few of us! Those who stayed to paint did so amidst the trailing vines from the overhanging treeline.




We loved Shelly's palm frond hat and Nate told us that he'd had the hatmaker, Tony, at the farm to give lessons in his weaving technique. We asked him to try to have Tony back again so that we could learn how to make them too! Nate also told us a little about the camp where he'd been working for the past 8 years. The mission of the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute is "to provide a working educational farm enterprise that integrates sustainability in education, environment, and community through quality instruction in Agroecology and related fields." It encompasses about 200 acres of lush land near Frederiksted off Creque Dam road and is getting much publicity as a premier Virgin Islands eco-tourism site. It was recenlty rated “Top 25 New Favorites in the Caribbean” by ISLANDS Magazine! Their plans for the immediate future involve having summer camp (ages 12-16; June 28th-July 30) and a Permaculture Design Course (August 8-22) soon! You can find out more about them from their website http://www.visfi.org We had a unique experience there and will definitely be returning!

Palletteers at Rust Op Twist

Amidst another "cats and dogs" kinda rain last Thursday, with the forecast for Friday being an 80% chance of rain with intermittent thunderstorms, I seriously contemplated sending out an email cancelling the next day's painting excursion. But I didn't.. and I'm so glad I didn't because painting at Rust Op Twist, rain or shine, is always a remarkable experience.
Arriving in a slight drizzle, I was greeted by 6 tail wagging, barking dogs. As I got out of my car to look around, Jack, our host, gestured for me to come into his home (the former stables) and showed me around. What a great place: 12" thick walls, vistas over the extensive green lawn out to the sea and beyond, a private courtyard, covered porch and breezeway, and lots of character!
Slowly the rest of our brave group of Palletteers arrived: Chris B, Elizabeth, Elwin, Brenda, Alma and me. Later we were joined by Gene with his grandson Henry. We all faced the same dilemma: chance getting caught in a downfall like those that'd been occurring all week long or "play it safe" and paint on the covered breezeway or porch or in the courtyard under a protective canopy of trees? The greathouse ruins amid the stately hilltop sugarmill beckoned ...but the only places to get a good view were exposed to the weather. The garden courtyard featuring a lovely lily pool surrounded by ferns and other greenery, a blooming frangipani, and a few turtles were really tempting. The breezeway held several cages of twittering, chirping birds. Were they asking us to memorialize them in a painting? Hmmm... We made our decisions, set up our work spaces, took photos, and started painting. We were all inspired!










No ruins.. no sugarmill, but great paintings! Our host agreed and gave us a hearty invitation to return to paint, anytime. We're planning to take you up on that, Jack. Thanks for a wonderful morning!

Palletteers at Tamarind Reef

The Palletteers painted at Tamarind Reef on Friday. I was off island but Emy reports that it was another windy day. Of course, there was our usual iguana sighting! Should we adopt him as our mascot?She also said that Alma executed her entire painting with a palette knife. Can you spot which one that is?







Thanks to Emy and Elizabeth for the pictures! Ginger