More than 100 eager painters have gathered near the Canadian border to paint the luxuriant greens and stately rock formations of New York’s Adirondack Mountains this week in the 2016 Publisher’s Invitational Painters Camp. What are they seeing?
As painters arrived at Paul Smith’s College of the Adirondacks they were met with chilly 40-degree weather, fog, and mist across the mountain views of Lower St. Regis Lake, and sheets of rain. It was a highly unusual start to an event that usually begins on a typical June Adirondack day of 65 degrees and sunny. Fortunately for guests, day one was a late afternoon check-in to their dorm rooms and a celebration to kick off the event, starting with a cocktail party, dinner, and orientation about the following week of activities.
Eric Rhoads, the organizer of the event and the publisher of PleinAir magazine
Publisher Eric Rhoads, founder of the event, began with a warm welcome, followed by a slide show featuring historic paintings and the history of the lakes, which were frequently painted by the Hudson River School painters and others throughout history, including Winslow Homer, who stayed and painted in the very location of this event where the Paul Smith Hotel once stood. Rhoads walked “campers” through the details of their coming week, and ended the evening with prize giveaways from many product companies.
The weather on the first full day of painting was chilly.
Each morning, the participants assembled for announcements.
Each day of the Publisher’s Invitational is designed to be filled with painting and interaction among the artists, starting with an early breakfast in the dining hall, morning announcements from Rhoads, a chance to pack a sack lunch, and off to painting. On opening day the entire group met and painted in the Paul Smith’s College Visitors Interpretive Center (VIC), hundreds of acres of preserved forest in a spot once visited by President Theodore Roosevelt. The center provides mountain vistas, deep forests, babbling brooks, colorful bogs, and miles of trails, making for a great day of painting where the group could be together for the first day.
Kevin Beck enjoys the experience.
We’ll continue coverage of the event in the next issue of PleinAir Today.
