Blog 40
This is part 1 of my travelogue of the Plein Air Ensemble trip to Lake Clear in Eganville.
Friday, October 2, 2015
Right now we are in the area
of Lake Clear in Eganville where the Plein Air Ensemble is spending
the next couple of days. Hélène, Janis, and I arrived yesterday to
get everything organized for the arrival of the rest of the group. We
still found time to paint.
The colours are not as intense
this fall. Many of the trees are just too dry and the leaves just
turn yellowish brown. However, there are pocketful of really
beautiful colours. The reds and oranges bring a lot of vibrancy into
the green landscape.
After driving around a little
bit to check out the area, we ended up at the historic stone fence
which was erected by hand by the German immigrant Carl Ludwig
Neumann. We stayed there to paint. I decided to paint the curving
road. After having spent the summer finishing up paintings, and not
having painted “en plein air” since May, it was quite a
challenge.
In the evening, we met up with
Charlie and Mike who also had arrived a day early. We drove together
to downtown Eganville to meet our friends Sharon and Bill who moved
to the area a couple of years ago. We had a great German dinner at
“The Granary”. The schnitzel were really good and the dessert was
just amazing. It took three people to finish our crepe Denmark.
Back in our cottage, Janis,
Hélène and I played a game of “Paquet”, where Janis did not
give us a chance.
Right now, we are on our way
to the store to get the groceries for the daily “Happy Hour” when
all the artists get together before dinner. In the afternoon, we will
be going out to paint.
__________
It is nighttime by now, and I
should be getting ready for bed. I am too worked up to sleep even
though I am tired.
We had another very windy day,
but we found a beautiful vista in Cormac. I managed to finish a small
painting and got a good start on a second painting before we had to
head back.
At 5 pm, we met everyone at
“Happy Hour” for a presentation by Christine, the former owner of
Opeongo Mountain Resort and now full-time artist. She and our
painting buddy Kathy had put a lot of work into marking maps with
interesting painting sites, and giving us information on picturesque
spots.
The evening held a couple of
excitements. First, one of the cottage doors did not open even though
the electric lock opened. Luckily, the resort owner was still on site
and able to help.
Then, Janis, Hélène, and I
were waiting for the return of one of our participants while trying
to distract ourselves by playing cards. She had left her purse at an
Ottawa gas station and gone back to get it. However, we were worried
whether she would find the resort again in the darkness. Once four
hours had passed, we got more and more worried with every minute that
passed. After more than 5 hours and repeated checks at her cottage,
we were ready to call the police. Right at that moment, she arrived.
We were too relieved to be angry at that point. As organizers you
just feel responsible for everyone’s safety. Starting tomorrow
there will be a new rule: Everyone running unexpectedly late has to
inform us. There is always the possibility that someone loses track
of time or gets lost, which is not a problem as long as we know what
is going on.
On the bright side, we saw a
beautiful yellow moon over the lake and a sky full of stars. I am
sure a beautiful day lies ahead of us.
***
I hope you enjoyed my
travelogue and the photos of the beautiful region so close to Ottawa.
There is a lot more to come. To read more about the painting trip,
please return to my blog next week.
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