Palletteers at the Rickenbach's

Yesterday I woke up to pouring rain. I immediately checked the weather online and saw that a 20% chance of rain was predicted for the morning. Palletteers paint, rain or shine, so I packed my painting gear into my car and headed east, anticipating what I'd be painting. Leslie and Rick's home is charming and interesting. There was something to paint everywhere I looked. This was going to be a difficult choice: Paint the great view over the Buccaneer Hotel and outward towards Buck Island? the great architectural elements of their house? the crystal clear pool beside the charming gardens? one of the interesting flowers blooming especially for us to paint? For me, the triple Peach hibiscus called to the Georgia O'Keefe in me and, even though I usually don't paint flowers, I HAD to paint this one!
Gosh, a lot of Palletteers, old and several brand new, had shown up to paint! We were spread out all over the Rickenbach's home, outside, inside, on patios, porches, in bedrooms and driveways! We had a blast! It's always such fun to greet old friends, returning to St. Croix for their winter sojourn, but after the intitial hugs and exchanges, the quiet was palpable as each of us set up and focused on capturing our subject matter with our paints. There were some mumblings and rumblings, some chuckles, some "talking to our canvases" (you artists out there know what I mean!) but for the most part, there was a peaceful quiet. Were there really 27 women painting here?
One by one we completed our paintings and I, among the early finishers, walked around to see how everyone was doing and chat some more. Leslie was "in her element", socializing, making sure all of us were comfortable, and filling us in on some stories of their home.
"Show and Tell" time was really interesting! We spread our artwork out over 3 huge tables on the patio and "oohed" and "aahed" repeatedly as we saw the wonderful art that everyone had produced during the prior 3 hours. Thinking that our creativity might also extend to our cooking skills, Rick had an unusual announcement to make: he had a bread making machine he wanted to raffle off!!! so everyone who was interested put their name into the mix and Marilyn M. was the lucky winner! We made her promise to bring homemade bread for us to share to our next painting site! (Not really :^)
Lunch was yummy! The Palletteers are REALLY getting spoiled!
By the way, our Palletteer "weather luck" held out: the sun shone the entire time and the breezes were fabulous!
Thanks so much for a wonderful painting morning, Rick and Leslie! Lovya much!
Ginger
PS: Can I have your bread pudding recipe.. pleeese?

Palletteers at the Grange

It poured while I was eating my breakfast yesterday morning. It rained while I packed my car. It drizzled as I drove to the Grange. It sprinkled as I explored the property. Then it cleared. Of course: it was time for the Palletteers to paint! None of the other Palletteers who showed up to paint had been daunted by the weather, either.. and there was a good number of us, too! What hardy souls we are, eh? Despite the cleared skies, the weather prediction had been for 50% chance of showers throughout the morning, so a few dispatched themselves under the one umbrella on the patio, a few others perched near the open garage where they could quickly run for shelter, and I set myself up at the back of my SUV under my opened hatch door. I've never painted out of the back of my car before...if you can do it, I highly recommend this arrangement! Everything I needed was right there and if it had started to rain, it would have been so easy to just move my painting and palette into the back of my car... while staying dry in the process. Unbelievably, the weather held the enire time we painted, only showing signs of a drizzle when it was "show and tell" time. So we used the open garage for our showing and then reconvened for lunch at The Deli at Beeston Hill Gym, right around the corner. It had cleared when we went in for lunch but was already raining again when we left.. and that rain continued for the remainder of the day and into the night. We love our rain, here on St. Croix but wasn't it great that it had held while the Palletteers painted? We were glad to welcome back Janet Bell, Jenn Veitch, Sue Filene, and Becky Bane! Great to have you back with us again!
Ginger

Palletteers Enjoy Cruzan Rum

The day began de-spirited looking but after arriving at the grounds of the Cruzan Rum distillery our spirits quickly picked up (no pun intended). It was a grand morning, with each of us admiring the property and the many painting choices it provided us. Wow! After settling in to paint, the morning moved swiftly. Since they weren't processing any rum while we were there, the sounds of the birds, roosters, and an occasional airplane were interspersed with the excited chatter of visitors to the site. Despite the occasional dark cloud overhead, the morning was crisp and clear and it was a joy to be painting. It seemed incongruous that the grounds of a distillery could be so beautiful. There is definitely a reason to include this showcase of the VI in any island tour. I stood under an humongous ficus tree, often kissed by one of its tendrils as I painted, and wondered how many generations ago it began its life on the property.. how much of history it had witnessed. Others positioned themselves under giant mahogany trees or in the visitors pavillion. A few chose to sit in the outdoor tasting room.. no, they didn't sample the rum.. at least not to my knowledge. Since it's January, our group is growing with the gentle influx of our winter people. Joining us "homies" were Eleanor, Janet, Melinda, Harriet (yay! another oil painter!), Phebe, and Kitty. Margaret, too, managed to take the day off to paint with us. So it was a good sized group and we were pleasantly welcomed by the staff of Cruzan Rum from the moment we entered through their gate. After a most interesting "Show and Tell" we reluctantly left, vowing that we would most certainly return...and soon.
Ginger

Palletteers Return to Christiansted Boardwalk

We met once again on a Saturday morning this past week because Friday was New Year's Day. We thought Christiansted would be really quiet since the adult parade was taking place in Frederiksted, so we were surprised at all the people walking by as we painted on the boardwalk. The day was absolutley gorgeous... even radiant! This was a welcome change from the rainly overcast weather we'd been having since mid-week. We have such beautiful and captivating views from our waterfront.. the boats on their moorings, the little cafes on the boardwalk, Protestant Cay and its related activities, and the people walking to and fro.. it's all so interesting! I think I could set up my easel there every week for the next year and find a new subject that captures my eye each time. I love it! We were all happy to meet our newest Palletteer, 92 year old Harriet who hails from Poughkeepsie, NY and paints in oils. The snowbirds will be arriving in the next few weeks.. we're looking forward to seeing them all again. Today I'm playing tourist.. maybe I'll find another neat place for us to paint!
Ginger