The Washington Oaks Paint Out

Well today was the the day of our April  paint out at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park. The weather originally threatened to be blustery and chilly in the morning, but in the end turned out to be absolutely pleasant and delightful.

We had hoped that scheduling the paint-out at Washington Oaks would draw some of the folks from Ormond Beach, and even the Gainesville area who had expressed an interest in connecting with our society.

But as it turned out, we didn't have any anyone from those areas at all. Only five hardy souls turned up and all of us had a good 50+ miles or more to travel to get to the paint-out!

But it was well worth it. The park is lovely indeed, and features everything from seacoast to formal gardens to riverfront along the Matanzas River.  And with the weather so sunny and clear there were all sorts of options for an artist to choose.

I set up along the Matanzas River with all the fishermen and women, and not only got to paint, but got to watch the boats going by and plenty of birds as well, including a bold Great Blue Heron who came right up among the fisherfolk to beg for fish!

But there were plenty of other fine spots as well. Sadly, our president, Lyn, was not able to be with us due to a serious illness in her family, so we all have her in our good thoughts and prayers.

Washington Oaks paint-out

Mark your calendars now for Saturday, April 7, for the next scheduled paint-out of the First Coast Pastel Society. Our next paint-out is scheduled at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park in Palm Coast. We are heading a little further south this month, but hope to be able to draw folks who have expressed an interest in our society from the Ormond Beach and Gainesville areas.

The park is situated between the Matanzas River and the Atlantic ocean, featuring the famous cochina beaches. In addition it contains the amazing formal gardens, featuring native and exotic species, that was created by former owners who gave the property to the state in 1965.

As this map of the park shows, there are nearly limitless choices for wonderful plein-air setups. Flowers should be in full bloom in the gardens.  Our paint-outs run from 8:30 AM to 1 PM, though folks often tend to stay later. But bring your lunch with you! In addtion to painting supplies you may also want water, hats, sunscreen, bug repellant. Come have fun with your fellow pastelists.

Putting Down

This beautiful 11x14 painting is being donated to the society by our very own co-Treasurer Rick Petersen, and you can read about his creation of this painting here. The FCPS is planning to hold a fund-raising raffle with this painting as a prize. Stay tuned to this space for more details. I'll be buying my ticket! I love seagulls also.

General Meeeting - March 3

The First Coast Pastel Society held its second general meeting this morning in Green Cove Springs. We had eleven attendees who heard all about the upcoming events of the society. Among the exciting upcoming events are our first member show, to be held in September 2012 at the gallery of Jacksonville gallery owner Heather Sams, and a workshop with Michael Chesley Johnson in October 2013.

We have submitted our membership to IAPS and should have a listing on their website shortly, which will begin to put us on the map.

Our president Lyn Asselta presented an excellent demo on underpainting techniques. including notan, watercolor underpainting. complementary color underpainting, and using either warm or cool toned papers.

Any of these techniques can be used depending upon the desired effect and the wishes of the artist. But Lyn's demo gave us all many things to think about when planning an underpainting.

Our meetings are fun and we provide refreshments! So please think about joining us at our next meeting which will be in May, details to follow. In the meantime consider our next plein air get-together on Saturday, April 7, 8:30-1:30, at Washington Oaks State Park. We will have more information about that coming up too.

Reminders

Well we are off and running to accept membership and dues now. Look to the upper right of our blog and you will see we actually have a Paypal button you  can use to pay your dues if you would like. We've already had a few members pay! Note there is also a form you can select to fill out for membership. If you send a Paypal payment can you also fill out the information on the form and send it to firstcoastpastelsociety@gmail.com please? That way we will have all the necessary information about our members.

If you don't want to use PayPal you are free to send a check, either a real check or an e-check, to our treasurer, Rick Petersen. His address is on the membership form. You can just fill out a copy and mail it to him if you prefer. 

Don't forget that our next meeting is coming up this Saturday from 10 AM to 12 noon. See the previous blog post for location and directions. And we still have time to accept more entries for our LOGO contest!

Next Meeting (and Logo contest)

The next meeting of the First Coast Pastel Society will be held on Saturday, March 3th, from 10 AM to 12 noon, at the Green Cove Springs County Administration Building, 477 Houston St., in Green Cove Springs. Houston St. is just south of the County Courthouse, on the western side of route 17, though the parking lot for the County Administration Building itself can be entered directly from route 17 itself, just south of Houston St.

Our President, Lyn Asselta, will give a demonstration on underpainting techniques and the importance of them.

Don't forget, we hope to see submissions for logos for the First Coast Pastel Society too. If we select a winner that person will win a year's free membership in the FCPS. I've created a simple example above just as a starter, in hopes that you'll all get your creative juices flowing.

An Excellent outdoor day at Fort Mose

Lyn Asselta said that when her northern friends ask her why she lives in Florida, it's days like today that provide the answer! The First Coast Pastel Society had an absolutely glorious day today for our paint out at Fort Mose. At least 10 pastelists showed up to take advantage of the perfect weather we had; sunny and with a light breeze blowing.

If you are not familiar with Fort Mose you need to check it out if you are in the area. If you are a painter or a bird watcher the place is just made for you.

There are a couple of boardwalk trails that take you out over the marsh. One overlooks a large rookery, where birds were coming and going, building their nests.

Behind the Visitor's Center there is a large shaded area, with picnic tables, and large live oaks draped with Spanish moss, another great place to set up your easel.

There are also some trails that go off into the woods, providing different points of view for the artist. 

I think everyone who was there today had a great time. Our officially scheduled time for the paint out was 8:30 AM to 1:00 PM, but there were plenty of us still there at 2:30!