Whitewater Region

Blog 18

This week, I stayed at the cottage in the Wildwater region. This is something I have done every spring in early May for the last couple of years. I usually invite two of my friends to spend the week with me for a girls time-out. We all enjoy plein air painting. Often, we get together with two of our other painting buddies who moved to the Eganville area years ago.

We used to paint almost weekly together but somehow all of our lives got busier with work, travel, or grandchildren. The May week as well as the trips with the Plein Air Ensemble and the yearly trip to Kamouraska are now our best chances to get at least part of the original local group together.

Unfortunately, only my friend Janis was able to join me for part of the week this time. We were not too lucky with the weather. It rained almost constantly. We knew we could not paint on site but were determined that we would still paint outside. We set our equipment up on the covered patio. Janis painted a still life. I started the commission work of a beautiful cat. We lasted 2 1/2 hours with one break to warm us up before we gave up because the cold wet air chilled us to the bone.

The next day, I made another attempt painting on the patio, but the wind was so cold that I packed my stuff after an hour and continued painting inside for a short while. The light in the cottage is not the best on a very grey day. Therefore, I did not get far. Instead, my son and I took the golf cart for a drive through the resort which was nice despite the rain.

If you would like to see my video of the high water at the Black Chutes, please go to: https://youtu.be/FnUQdY21QDo.

On Wednesday, my last day, we finally saw the sun again. However, it was too windy to paint outside. I did not even attempt to set up on the patio. I am a little disappointed but happy that I made good progress with my cat painting.

Even though I did not paint as much as I had hoped for, I worked on two new felted pieces: one of pink lilies and another of a cardinal. I hope I can finish the cardinal in time for Mother's Day. It will make a great gift for my mom who loves birds. This year, she will be with us in Canada so we can celebrate our Mother's Day together.

Usually, we stay until Friday morning but I had been asked to provide members of the Women’s Business Connections Orleans with a painting party experience Thursday evening. As we had only an hour for painting, I created a 10” x 8” painting of the Canada 150^th Tulip. Everyone had a lot of fun and here is a photo of the success that speaks for itself.

If you are interested in hosting your own painting party, please contact me at kpeters@domingoinformatics.ca for more information. This is a great way to have lots of fun and to create memories for many occasions like birthday parties, bridal showers, a girls night out or any get-together with friends. I take care of the set-up and take-down, and provide all the materials. You can also check out the information on my website www.kerstinpeters.ca.