Roscoe, New York
Saturday night in Roscoe, New York, was cold. Very cold.
My friends Kristin Künc and Josh Young have an incredible several acres Upstate in the Catskills near Roscoe, and last weekend was peak foliage-- perfect time to bust out the oils and the M-box. My friend, the painter Chris Eastland (aka "Jesus"), and I were lucky enough to spend Saturday and Sunday with Kristin plein air painting on and around the property. Though the fire in the wood-burning stove going out at three o'clock in the morning in the small cabin we were sleeping in made for a "brisk" sleep, the weekend was absolutely perfect, and the daylight hours no less.
The cabin...when there was a fire in the wood stove!
The resourceful Josh, who owns Serett Metalworks where the inimitable Gowanus Ballroom is housed, has planted all kinds of trees and bushes on the land, which has a creek and a little pond, too. Here's a painting of an apple tree that I did. It was the first painting I made when I got out there-- the throwaway painting, the "burnt pancake," so to speak.
I decided I was going to paint it however the hell I wanted. So that explains the uncharacteristically fat brushstrokes.
Kristin, Josh and Rowan, their 18-month son, who loves riding on the many tractors they've got on their property.
I guess Rowan's not the only one who likes tractors. Jesus, you're drinking and driving.
On Saturday night, Josh, Shane, and Wyatt made a gigantic bonfire. I've been steering clear of beer for a while, but, hey, nothing like one (or three) after a day of plein air painting.
Rowan clearly agrees.
Kristin and me, in my Anna Karenina hat. (That is not my hair).
The colors were much more vivid in reality than this painting implies, but I was kind of refusing to use cadmiums over the weekend. The detritus on the panel is ashes from the bonfire.
An abandoned house down the road: The House of the Gloming.
Wyatt painted on Sunday with us at The Gloming!
Jesus and Kristin outside the House of the Gloming.
No plein air trip into the Catskills would be complete without a stop at the Goshen Diner. I had a chicken parm wrap with French fries. I ate them all-- with the nonorganic ketchup. You might say I like it dangerous when it comes to my potatoes.
