plein air - Fountain of Youth

What:   First 2017 Plein Air
When:  Saturday, February 4, 9 AM to 1 PM
Where: Fountain of Youth, St. Augustine, FL 

The weather looks perfect for Saturday, sunny and a high of 70. What a day for plein air. We hope everyone can just us at the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine. It's located on the Matanzas River and offers salt marshes.

As well as exotic peacocks (both normal colored and albino white) strolling the grounds.

And folks in period costumes. See what Lyn Asselta said below  for all the details for what looks like being an excellent day:

Details:When you arrive, please pull in toward the left and back area of the parking lot. It's even better if you carpool with another FCPS member so we aren't taking up all their spaces. We can park in the bus area, just past the cafe, since there will be no school buses there that day. 

Gather up in the parking lot and Cindy will be there to check everyone in at the ticket area.  There is no charge for you to be on the grounds for the morning.

Please note that there will be a 16th century encampment going on while you are there.  The Fountain of Youth Park has requested that we paint on the OPPOSITE side of the park so as not to disturb the re-enactors.   

The rep from Fountain of Youth will let you all know where to paint. Please be courteous and remember that the park is open on Saturday and there will be lots of people coming through who have paid to be in the park.  

Since FOY is not charging us admission, please consider patronizing their cafe and buying lunch after you're finished painting.  You may bring a lunch, but please don't use the picnic tables on the grounds ~ these are for their patrons.

Happy Birthday to Us

Wow, five years already? What an amazing group we have grown into since our inception in January, 2012. We had nearly 30 attendees this morning - including quite a few "charter members" from our very beginning, and lots of other wonderful folks who have joined us over time.

We had to celebrate with an amazing cake as well, a work of art all on its own.

One of the things we have acquired over time is our great rental resource library of books and DVDs. For only $2 you can rent a book or DVD for two months, and can proceeds go to fund purchases of new additions.

The big excitement was the growing pile of plainly wrapped artwork, as each member arrived and added to the pile. We were doing a 5x7 painting gift exchange to celebrate our five years, and each artist would be going home with a painting by a fellow member.

President Cindy Pierson brought us up to date with recap of past accomplishments, and details about upcoming events for the year (like the Nancy Nowak workshop, and our juried member show).

Then we took time for cake, coffee, fellowship, and the painting exchange! What fun it was to see what all the artists involved created, and received as gifts.

So here we are, headed into 2017 hoping to continue to grow bigger and stronger. Next up will be our first 2017 plein air event at the Fountain of Youth. Stay tuned here for details, first Saturday in February.

Happy Holidays - and a great new year to come

December was a busy month for so many of us - too busy for me to get this blog post out sooner! But once again we had a great December holiday get-together, and Cindy, our President, kept us up to date with information about upcoming events.

We had well over 20 attendees, closer to 30 actually, and the tables were all set in festive red for our holiday buffet.

As usual there was WAY more food than we could possibly eat, but everything was yummy and it was great to share a meal and chat with folks. Then after eating we had a surprise! Usually at our holiday meetings we set up a group still life or two, but - for a change - we had been promised a live model for this day.

And surprise! Our model turned out to be Cindy, our very own President, dressed in a lovely period outfit. Thanks so much Cindy for sitting for us.

And DON'T FORGET! Coming up is our 5th Anniversary meeting on January 7 at 10 AM. Be there or be square at Ponte Vedra. For the anniversary we are having a painting exchange, so don't forget your framed 5x7 painting wrapped in plain paper. Whose painting will you go home with?