Born and raised in Corinth, Lynn Gilbert once wanted to see the world.  She was working as a waitress in a local restaurant, trying to save money when she met Gino Benevento, a co-worker from Brooklyn. 

"Gino asked me out on a date," she says, "and that was that." 

Lynn stayed in the Adirondacks, got married and started a family.  She has absolutely no regrets about sticking around.  "This is my home," she says, "My feelings for the Adirondacks run deep.  The woods, the seasons, and above all, my family have rooted me to this region."

Her Adirondack ancestors go all the way back to Joseph Gilbert, a Revolutionary War veteran who settled on Hadley Hill in 1801.  Her great-grandfather, Will Madison was the first fire-tower observer on Hadley Mountain.  There are numerous Gilberts and Madisons still living in the area.

"Most  of my ancestors were simply hard-working, church going people who grew up, married, raised families and worked the land or the usual jobs.  But that, really, is what Adirondackers are."

Lynn Benevento has transmuted her love of the Adirondacks into art.  Working out of her studio in Lake Luzerne, she has produced beautifully detailed paintings of woodland flowers, bucolic meadows, gentle streams, rolling hills and dramatic peaks.  She paints only what she has experienced first-hand while exploring the Adirondacks with her husband of 31 years.

"We love walking in the woods or sitting on top of a mountain with family and friends," she says.  "It's exhilarating and deeply moving.  Gino teases me, because I sometimes burst into tears on mountaintops, overwhelmed by the beauty.  But I thank God for the times when we are together.  Through my paintings, I try to make those precious moments last forever." 

Lynn and Gino usually roam the woods close to home, in the southern Adirondacks, but they also have climbed 41 of the 46 High Peaks.  Gino's health problems have deterred them from climbing the 4,000-footers recently, but they still hope to do them all eventually.  Asked to name her favorite peak, Lynn demurs.  "It's like trying to choose a favorite child," she says.  "Each place has its own beauty and special memories.  Any day in the woods or on a mountain is a good day!  But our hike over the Brothers to Big Slide was one of our best ever.  The weather was perfect, and a lot of the hike was on open ledges where we could look out across the whole Great Range." 

She also fondly recalls an incident in the Santanoni Range when they had stopped to fill their canteens at a stream on Panther Mountain:  "Just five feet away were these big boulders.  Suddenly this pine marten - a weasel with big ears - comes running out onto the boulders, sees us and stops dead in his tracks.  You could almost see him thinking, 'What the heck is this?'  He didn't run off immediately but stuck around staring at us with this look of total surprise on his cute little face."

On their outings Benevento carries a digital camera but no art supplies.  "I take a lot of pictures while hiking," she says, "Later, I'll surround myself with the photos. They rekindle memories and really make things come alive for me as I paint."

Her artwork can be viewed in the gallery at 4 Bridge Street in Lake Luzerne, a stone's throw from Rockwell Falls on the Hudson River (she has painted the falls in each of the four seasons) or her Web site.  She sells both originals and prints.  An original artwork can fetch anywhere from $450 to $3,000. 

Benevento's paintings depict the Adirondacks' wild beauty both in landscapes and in small scenes.  Her landscapes include Lake George seen from the top of Black Mountain, the High Peaks Wilderness seen from Cascade Mountain, and a bird's eye view of Hadley Mountain and Great Sacandaga Lake.  She has produced a series of paintings of Adirondack wildflowers, such as trilliums, lady slippers, trout lilies and trailing arbutus. 

She also has been inspired by rural scenes in the Adirondacks.  "Grandma's Church" depicts a wintry scene of an old-fashioned wooden church in Stony Creek.  "One Last Look" shows a red barn in a field with the High Peaks rising in the background.  In a humorous vein, "One Seat, No Waiting" depicts a lonely outhouse in a hardwood forest. 

Benevento got her start as an artist in 1980, when she started painting dinosaurs for her two young sons, Michael and Giani.  Soon she branched out into flowers, barns, landscapes and hot-air balloons.  "It's fun mixing things up," she says, "I paint what I love, and I love all those things."

Not surprisingly, Michael and Giani practically grew up outdoors.  On family hikes, they often ran ahead of Lynn and Gino.  They did this once on a hike up Mount Marcy.  "Gino and I noticed tracks on the trail which looked like someone was walking barefoot,"  Lynn recalls. "Then a bit later we saw similar tracks - but with a big claw mark. That's when we realized it wasn't a bare foot between us and the boys - it was a bear foot!"

Now grown, both sons work as whitewater rafting guides.  Michael on various rivers throughout the country and Giani in West Virginia much of the year.  "It's in their blood,"' Gino says.  "We started hiking with the boys when they were just babies.  Initially , we carried them in those child packs on our backs.  We had them hiking and on cross-country skis from such a young age.  Its' no wonder they turned out as they did."

Lynn hopes her sons someday return to the Adirondacks to stay, but she's not insistent.   "I would like them to live where they're happiest," she says. "Of course they will always love the Adirondacks.  It's where they started hiking.  It will always be home."     

Wendy Hobday Haugh is a free lance writer from Burnt Hills