I finally felt brave enough to chance a rattlesnake encounter on Tongue Mountain. After all, hikers rarely see one, and the reptiles are timid. Unfortunately, I had two close encounters last Sunday.  I never noticed the snake on the right, who was right next to the trail, until he very loudly warned me. I walked past the snake on the left who also rattled at me as I got by.  They sound more like a buzz than a rattle but rattled me enough not to venture back there again in the summertime.  I do think they were moving from their winter hibernation areas to their summer homes or looking for mates or something. It might better to hike other trails for a while. My camera has a 12 time optical zoom or these photos wouldn't exist.   I usually like to see snakes but...

The new Adirondack Woodland Flower giclee reproductions are finally ready and I'm very pleased with the way they came out.  It is an open edition in two sizes on 300 GSM rag.  I have several framed at the gallery right now.  I also am working on prints of the views from Giant in the summer, and French Point Mountain in the fall (When the rattle snakes are sleeping).  They should be ready soon.

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful summer like weather, even though we could use some rain for our gardens. 

Don't forget the LARAC Festival is coming up June 12 and 13 in City Park, Glens Falls.  The gallery will be closed that weekend

Hope to see you soon!

lynn

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This was the view from the top of Cat Mountain looking at Lake George last week.  There is still very little snow.  All of it is falling in the south where it's unwelcomed it seems.  The trails here have a lot of ice but my new Katoola Microspikes are up to the task.  They are amazing contraptions with chains and itsy crampons to put on the bottom of hiking boots and seem to be able to handle any winter conditions.

I still haven't had time to get the new computer and printer going but did finally finish the wildflower painting and a small canvas of the view from Giant.  Those two and the Christmas tree have been scanned and I'll get to printing everything after the vacation.

Something exciting is afoot in Lake Luzerne!  A new Adirondack Folk School is being set up in the old town hall building.  Jim Mandle has been working on a use for the now empty building and came up with this great idea. A web page is up at: www.adirondackfolkschool.org   There will be small classes with local instructors in all sorts of Adirondack arts, crafts, and traditions to take just for fun! I'll keep you posted on details as they come.  It all will start by this summer! 

I've noticed in my last few hikes that the sun is sending more heat to the earth.  There is a difference already from the dead of winter.  Spring will be here before we know it.  I will miss the clear open woods, though.  I love hiking in the quiet of winter!

lynn

January 24, 2010

I can see it's been a very long time since I updated things.  I've been busy painting and hiking and time seems to get away.  This was from the top of Pilot Knob Mountain today.  At the trail head and on the way up the skies were blue and the air still.  Just  before reaching the summit the clouds rolled in and the wind started howling.  It seems my coldest most windy hikes of the past two years have always been on Pilot Knob. (Except for one crazy day with gale force wind on Crane last spring).  It really doesn't matter though, it's always beautiful. 

I have the new printer and computer set up and am trying to finally finish the woodland flower painting so I can get it scanned and learn to use the new equipment. The 2009 Christmas tree is finished but a little too late, it was about two days before Christmas! I also have a very large involved painting project started and then decided to do another four season series.  There's also a commission I've agreed to do.  Hopefully the winter will be very long and I'll get a great deal accomplished - especially new originals. There's so much to paint and so little time!

I'm hoping the weathermen are wrong about tomorrow's heavy rain!

lynn

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Corin Kelley is keeping a blog about climbing the 46 Adirondack high peaks and wrote two beautiful entries about our hike up Santanoni.  The first was in anticipation of the day http://corinswalkinthepark.blogspot.com/2009/10/finishing-for-gino.html.  And the second was after the trek  http://corinswalkinthepark.blogspot.com/.  Thank-you Corin!  She and her dad, Mark, celebrated their half-way mark, # 23, while I was finishing.  I hope I'll be able to tag along when they complete their quest!

Gino and I started hiking the 46 Adirondack High peaks with our two sons about 26 years ago.  We did 40 as a family when Gino's health forced us to stop. After a kidney transplant we struggled up Seymour to make it 41 but never could get the really difficult mountains we had left. Not finishing was heart breaking to Gino and I.  Since his death I've been hiking to try to cope with the pain, and as a side effect have been able to get into better shape for the trails.  Linda, a childhood friend and neighbor and a 46er, offered to accompany me on the last 5 mountains.  We did two very long hikes for Allen and the three Sewards.  Then on  October 5th at 12:27 I realized Gino and my dream from so long ago and stood atop Santanoni! Corin and her dad, Mark, our friend "Jungle", and Linda shared the day with me.  Instead of a walk in the park as I had planned, it was a day of rain, wind, bone-chilling cold and a little snow/ice squall on top. There was also no view to greet us. I missed Gino, and the boys who are far away, but even with all that, it was a day I'll treasure forever.  The Adirondacks are always unpredictable, and Santanoni was teaching me not to take any mountain hike lightly.  The weather was nice at home.  Our son Mike finished the 46 a few years ago and Giani, who did the Appalachian trail winter northbound, has four peaks left. Maybe I'll try Santanoni again with him on a sunny day.

The summer at the gallery turned out surprisingly better than I had feared, but went by way too quickly.  I have the flower painting almost finished, enough for a sneak peek.  A bigger printer has been ordered and hopefully I'll get prints ready fairly soon.  I have an idea for this year's Christmas tree, but not sure if there will be time to get it painted.  There never seems to be enough time in a day!

The leaves seem to have changed and fallen very quickly this year.  There has just been too much rain I guess.  Hopefully there will still be some beautiful fall days to enjoy outdoors!

Have a great week!

lynn

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Sorry it has been so long since my last update.  The summer at the gallery was busy and I feel as if I've been playing catch up since this spring.  Now it's time for the Adirondack Balloon Festival.  The art show is on again so the gallery will be closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 25 - 27.  We're praying for great flying weather, and I hope to see many of you there.  

                                                                 July 20, 2009

Time is flying by and the gallery is in full swing.  It's wonderful to be so busy after the long slow winter.  I'm missing Gino even more with all the work he did to keep things rolling.  The new Hudson River print is almost ready, but I didn't finish the woodland flower poster.  It's also the 10th anniversary of the gallery.  I'm not keeping up very well.

I still have managed to get a couple of small hikes in each week.  This photo was from Pilot Knob looking west.  I stayed a little too long, but lucked out as there was no electricity in the storm.  It has seemed to manage to rain almost every day this spring and early summer.  It's been great for the flowers though.

I hope you are having a good summer and get some time to get outside to enjoy any sunshine that comes!

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                                                         June 11, 2009

This is a photo of beautiful Crane Mountain Pond on our second hike there in two weeks.  My young friend Dan and I searched in vain for the elusive showy orchis for three Sundays in a row, but never did find them.  We had been told of some of the rare orchids seen years ago, but they are gone or we just didn't get the right spot.  We were still treated to many other beautiful woodland blossoms.  Besides, Crane is a great hike, a lot of up, but fun.  We did experience the strongest winds I ever remember being in the first Sunday on the summit.  It was wild.

This weekend, June 13 and 14, the gallery will be closed.  I'll have my work at City Park in Glens Falls for the LARAC June Arts Festival.  The park was still a mess of dust and big equipment on Monday, but the city has promised a covering of straw and to be ready for all of the exhibitors tomorrow night for set up.  I am going to be near the bandstand, but they still hadn't figured out where the booths will go with all the construction going on. 

I finished the commission of the Hudson River scene but the woodland flower poster is still "in progress".  I will bring it anyway as it is nearing completion.  I hope to finish it soon and to get the prints made.

I'm praying for great weather this weekend and hope to see you at City Park!

lynn

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                                                                      May 4, 2009

Time keeps marching by and the hikes have changed from ice and snow to the warmth of spring.  The trees are showing the softly beautiful colors of new growth, and the early woodland wildflowers are there to great us as we walk.  This photo is of Lake George yesterday from Tongue Mountain. I had been on the northern section of the ridge trail there years ago on a cloudy day and the views were not that impressive.  I hadn't been back.  Then I was looking for a longer hike and read about French Point Mountain.  The trail was called "rugged" and the views "magnificent".  The report was correct on both counts.  I have sore knees today but the scene was so spectacular that it brought me to tears. The rattlesnakes never made an appearance, but the black flies are on their way. Time to start packing a head net. 

I've had quite a bit of framing to do at the gallery (a really good thing) so haven't painted much in the past two weeks.  I'm expecting to paint most of the day today.  The Hudson River scene is progressing well.  Since many people have seen the canvas at the gallery, there isn't much point in keeping it a secret any longer.  It is an Adirondack wildflower poster.  It contains 43 of the woodland flowers and still has a lot of work left, but I'm happy with the progress so far.

Have a wonderful spring!  I'd better get to painting.

lynn

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                                                                                                                                   April 11, 2009

I know that the newsletter is expected to be about hiking and painting but I was washing my hair and had a few thoughts of a different nature…

Why do shampoo formulators think I want my hair to smell like something to eat or drink?  Since I read that nothing really penetrates into hair itself, I just buy inexpensive shampoo most of the time.  It all seems to be scented with fruit, berries and yummy stuff. But it is shampoo!  That might work for someone working in an office in the city. And here in the winter the odor of fresh fruit might be pleasing. But in the spring we can expect black flies and mosquitoes to attack us as soon as we step out our doors. Having the aroma of vanilla mint tea should work wonders to attract even more biting insects!  On a hike once up Sawteeth I had swarms of black flies driving me to the very brink of insanity.  Kiwi strawberry shampoo would probably be the very catalyst to send me over the edge.  Last year I picked up an innocent bottle of a pleasing light green liquid promising to make my hair shiny and glowing but didn’t notice the honeydew photo.  It was melon scented.  I walked around for weeks with a melon melon.

I don’t even want to think about people out west in Grizzly Bear country hiking through the wilderness with honey lemon heads. 

Is it impossible to make a shampoo without scent, or maybe something less attracting to insects and large omnivorous animals?  Just wondering…

On a more serious note,  Happy Easter!

lynn

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This was on a little walk last week not too far from our house.  It's fun to walk in clouds sometimes.  The trails around here are beginning to be free from ice.  On the last hike it was decided the time has come to leave the snowshoes at home.  Just a week earlier I was post holing up to my knees in slushy snow on the Lake Vanare side of Darling Mountain.

I'm still busy working on the commission at home and the involved painting at the gallery. They both are progressing slowly. 

Yesterday I received the newest edition of the "Adirondack Reader" hot off the presses from the Adirondack Mountain Club.  It is a delightful book with over 500 pages of writing from authors of the past 400 years.  The center of the text holds beautifully reproduced color images of artwork from artists such as Winslow Homer, Arthur Tait, and Rockwell Kent.  New to this third edition are a few contemporary painters including me!  I was pleased to have two of my pieces alongside the masters of long ago.  The editors wanted paintings depicting the evidence of people and chose "The Sentinel" with the Hadley Fire Tower and "Summer Reflections" with the canoe. I will have many nights of reading and enjoying all of the stories. If you would like to get more info click here for the ADK and scroll down on the left.  

Back to the gallery tomorrow and hoping for a few nice warm days!

lynn

I can't believe it's almost April.  This winter has turned out quite differently than planned. Consequently I haven't accomplished much as far as painting goes, or anything else for that matter. Except for hiking - I've done a lot of that.  This photo is from Cat Mountain looking at Lake George. Winter is a wonderful time for exploring the woods.  I never had one black fly bite.   Although today's hike up little Beech Mountain was in the rain without a hint of the usual view. 

I planned to do the daily paintings and stories of my trip to Montana but haven't had as much time on the computer or any time for the little canvases.  Maybe next year...  I have been working for the winter on a very involved canvas that my friend, Dan, has been calling the "surprise painting".  I guess I'll just keep that a secret until it is finished, unless it is seen at the gallery where I'm working on it.  There is probably a month or more work left.  I have also started a commission of a scene on the Hudson River between Corinth and Lake Luzerne.

I hope mud and ice season gets over quickly and the wildflowers start to emerge from their winter sleep!  The snow is going fast now and water is starting to show on Lake Luzerne.  Happy Spring!

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Happy New Year!  It was a beautiful day today so I took advantage of it to hike up Buck Mountain.  This is a little of what greeted me there.  The trail was hard packed and smooth.  There were seven running stream crossings and some ice, but with the Yaktrax all went well.  Some people were trying to use snowshoes but there just isn't enough snow right now on that trail.

I've been sketching for a new painting and am almost ready to get the canvas stretched.  It's very involved and will take months to finish.  I'll tell you more about it after it gets painted a little.

Tomorrow they are talking about freezing rain again.  I wish it could be snow instead. 

I'd better get to work!

lynn

Took a hike up Hadley Mt. yesterday. Hiking helps a little when I'm missing Gino too much. The trail was packed down well from many hikers before me.  It was warm climbing but typically very cold and windy on the summit.  Snowshoes weren't needed on the bumpy path, but my new "Yaktrax" grippers on the bottom of my boots helped to keep me upright.  It was cloudy but I was greeted with a good view.  Today is very windy.

The gallery is now on winter hours:  Wednesday through Saturday 10 - 5.  I would be happy to run down and open up by appointment also.  Just give a call. 

I've started sketching a couple of new paintings for next summer.  It's that time of the year.  Keeping things afloat this winter with the "sluggish" economy will be a challenge, but I'm going to do my best.  Hopefully things will start turning around soon.  I had a woman in the gallery who said, "I don't feel art is a luxury".  I said I liked the thought.  She then added, "Of course it doesn't taste very good."  Funny, but true, that just about says it. 

Stay warm, eat well and get outside if you can!

lynn

                                                December 12, 2008

This was from Beech Mountain today after the storm.  I snowshoed up there on around 8 inches of new snow!  It was so beautiful!!  Perhaps it was a little far for my first time on snowshoes this year but was worth every step.  I heard a flock of geese and looked up to see the black and white of Snow geese. What a treat!

I was thankful the Christmas tree painting for this year was done, (I still have to have it scanned this week), and we had a snow day at the gallery, so I could just  spend the day outside.  It's good for the spirit!

We are finally getting some snow.  Hopefully it will be enough to cover all the ice that has made for some tricky hiking as of late.  As my friend John Bennett says, "We need snow, it's good for the land."  I wouldn't mind getting out the snowshoes or cross country skis either.

I just signed the new Adirondack Christmas tree painting tonight. It's a little more than late. I still have to take it to Albany to be scanned so there aren't any prints yet.  Oh well, at least it's finished before Christmas.

I hope everyone stays safe out there tonight, especially were it's freezing rain!

lynn