Castaway paint-out

It was a sultry day on Saturday when we met for our last get-together before the fall,with temperatures hitting 90 by the time we broke after our picnic lunch. Many of our members were also out in New Mexico also, but we still had seven stalwarts who showed up to paint and share a meal.

Because of the heat and humidity most folks steered clear of the lovely salt marshes, but looked for shaded areas to paint under the canopy of trees. The picnic areas lent themselves to this as the tables were all set in shaded areas.

It made a nice gathering place also when it was time to put the pastels down and have lunch.

As usual we had a great time sharing a meal with one another, and lots of water as well for some of us! It was the sort of day where you really needed to stay hydrated.

Interestingly most of us worked rather small.  Smaller pieces seem to be a good format for plein air, and many of us have gotten smaller and smaller at out plein air outings. Below are most of the works from the morning, in various stages of completion of course.

Just before lunch a few members rebelled against the idea of painting one more tree, so for about 20 minutes we had an impromptu portrait session. :-)

And that's it folks for the summer. Don't forget we kick off the fall with a Member Show. More details will follow towards the end of the summer.

Castaway

What: End of the season plein air paint-out and picnic
When: Saturday, June 6, 9 AM to 1 PM
Where: Castaway Island Preserve, Jacksonville, FL

This week is IAPS week, and lots of our FCPS members are out in New Mexico this week. We hope they are having lots of fun, and we hope to hear all about it later, but we can have lots of fun here too.

This year we are having our end of season paint-out and picnic in a northern section of our membership range, at Castaway Island Preserve in Jacksonville.

Castaway is a lovely little gem on the Intracoastal Waterway. It's a long slender park with walking trails that parallel the road into the park that are shaded, give wonderful views of the salt marshes, and also harbor small gardens along the pathways.

You can also go out on the boardwalk trails to get even more and different views of the salt marshes.

The boardwalk at the far end of the park leads out to a great view overlooking the waters of the Intracoastal Waterway.

There are also several picnic areas where we can meet at mid-day for lunch and, if we choose, a show and tell of the art work from the morning.

This is our last formal get-together before we come back in the fall. Don't forget that we will kick off the fall with our show at the JCA. Paintings for that show will be received on Friday, September 4th, which is even before our first fall meeting (which will be the following day, September 5th) so make sure you paint during the summer! We have wall space to fill up in September.

I look forward to seeing you this Saturday before our summer break. I hope the weather will hold and we can have a great day of painting and picnicing at Castaway.