Palletteers Paint St. Croix Yacht Club

Could there possibly have been more Palletteers painting at the St. Croix Yacht Club than boats? It sure seemed that way! What a wonderful, bright, beautiful morning of painting we had Friday! The yacht club treated us royally and the setting was truly breathtaking! It was so great to see Mary Bodio, Dianne Axelrod, and Barbara and Herb Pressman again and to welcome Chris and Marsha to our Palletteer family. I think we even had some grandkids painting with us! "Show and Tell" was really impressive.. it was like having our own "Art Walk!" Thanks so much, Alma, for arranging this painting site for us!
Ginger

Leslie's Pina Colada Bread Pudding Recipe

When we painted at Leslie Rickenbach’s home two weeks ago, she made us Pina Colada Bread Pudding for our dessert. Here is her recipe:
Preheat oven to 350° F Spray 9X13” pan
1 10 oz day old French bread, torn or cubed
2 C milk
1 15 oz can cream of coconut
2 C sugar
½ C butter
3 eggs
2T vanilla
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple (she used more) use juice
1 C shredded coconut
1 C chopped nuts (optional)
1 t ground cinnamon
Combine all in largest bowl you can find and pour into pan.
Bake 1 hr 15 min

Rum Sauce to pour over it
8 T butter
1 C powdered sugar
1 egg (beaten)
Rum to taste
(make a double batch)
Melt butter and sugar in top of double boiler. When melted, remove from heat and gradually add beaten egg. Stir until mixture cools to room temp. Add rum to taste.

Thanks for the recipe, Leslie! Can't wait to make it!

May I take a minute to brag?

In the middle of December I was approached by the editor of St.Croix This Week magazine, the monthly publication focused on the month's activities, and asked if I could do a series of sketches for the February issue. Though I'd never done this kind of commission before and my deadline was December 31, I immediately said that I'd do it! Of course! You all know I'm a bit crazy and ready for anything! Following some very specific guidelines given me by the editor, I rendered my sketches in oils on 12"X12" stretched canvases. I used my daughter & son-in-law, Jennifer & Jason as my models for a cute couple out enjoying what our island has to offer. All three paintings were completed ahead of the deadline and I was pretty happy with my results. I thought they were "cute", similar in style to my Palletteers @ Pollys poster painting. Since handing them over to the edior I've been counting the days in anticipation for the February issue to come out. On Sunday morning I drove to the nearest hotel and saw it on display. I picked up a "few" copies and eagerly returned to my car to page through one. I was pretty nervous: Would my paintings even be big enough to see? Would my caricatures look too amateur? Would the colors be ok? I found the first one! Whew! I like what they did with it! It's the focus of the entire page! Quick, quick, let's find the next two. This is really neat! You can even read my signature! Oh boy! Hey world: I've been published! Wow! Paint me excited!
Ginger

Palleteers Paint at Emy's

Our good weather fortune continued once again as we painted at Emy's on Friday morning! The wind was blowing at 18-22 MPH and kept a few of us hopping. After my canvas decided it was a sail, I moved from the sea-facing porch to the garden patio to paint. Some of the more courageous braved the wind and practiced their dexterity, anchoring their painting with one hand, their brushes with their other hand, and their palette with an elbow! I think I saw some hats being sat on or held down by a foot or two! One painting escaped into the pool but luckily it was a watercolor, so its artists said, "no damage done"! The morning passed all too quickly while more than 27 artists painted busily. Our "show and tell" was really a show in itself! Afterwards, we all enjoyed a wonderful salad bar luncheon, prepared by our hostess, Emy. It was suggested that we include recipes for some of the treats we share at these lunches, so in the prior blog entry you'll find the recipe for Shirley's Lemon Bars.. yum! What a fun, memorable, time we all had! Thanks so much, Emy! You're great!
By the way, the spots on some of the photos of the paintings are dapples of shade and sunspots.
Ginger