Our annual juried show

 Again. with the Covid pandemic, one of the other things that ended up not happening as expected. was our annual juried member show. It's original date was right in the middle of the lockdown, the Cultural Center was closed. We hoped to postpone until the fall, but with the fall upon us it's still not an option.

So as many groups have done this year, we've converted our juried show to an online show. Many thanks to Carron Wedlund who worked hard on the show, and created the online version for us. We have so many talented artists in our group so we certainly want to share our works with everyone. I hope you will all enjoy our show:

Arboretum

We're getting lucky with our weather now as we head into the fall, and Saturday was a lovely day indeed, a bit overcast, but beautiful temps from the mid 60s up into the low 70s.  But life is still strange for many of us in these days, and only two dedicated FCPS members showed up for our first plein air event for the fall season.

Special thanks to Patrick Mahoney who is our plein air coordinator. I have to thank him for the photos of the event since I'm one of those who couldn't attend.

And Betsey Hogan, one of our plein air stalwarts, also came to the event. 

Beautiful works from both Betsey and Pat. I hope you both had a good day even though you were missing many of the rest of us who often attend. 

Plein Air - Arboretum

 

We are continuing with our strange new season with Covid - more open air and more plein air for the time being with our first plein air this coming Saturday.

From Pat Mahoney, our plein air coordinator:

October 3rd, Saturday

The Arboretum and Gardens

1445 Millcoe Rd. Jax.

jacksonvillearboretum.org

Directions:   

NORTH on 295. Exit onto Monument Rd. Take very FIRST LEFT onto Millcoe Rd. Short distance, entrance on the RIGHT

 Saturday hours 8:00a.m. to 5:00p.m.

Many dirt trails and a paved walkway around the lake. We can brown bag lunch as in the past. They have tables, left of entrance to have lunch around 11:00. Restroom to left of parking lot. Park Map at entrance. One covered structure in back of Lake Ray for shelter.

from their website

For your safety, please follow the guidelines listed:

Masks or face coverings are strongly recommended for everyone over the age of two. Visitors are expected to follow health guidelines on social distancing, maintaining at least 6 feet apart at all times. Follow the signs on the trails. They are designated for one-way traffic. Please do not gather in groups of more than 10. $3 non-member visitor donation is requested to help pay for maintenance and operations.

I plan on making the paintout. Hope to see you there.

New Season

 

Well it's hard to believe that it's almost September now in this crazy year. It's been a couple months since we last got together via Zoom back in June.

But Zoom is still a fun way to connect, and we got to see some great suggestions from Janelle and Tish,  and tried to do so with Patrick, but his internet connection didn't cooperate!

And most exciting was participation by our group founder, Lyn Asselta, all the way from her new home up in Maine, and she even did a demo for us! Technology can definitely be a blessing in these interesting times. 

She finished up her demo piece after the meeting and you can see that, as usual, it's a stunning Lyn piece. 

Now we are headed into the new season. Our first meeting will be a week later than usual since our normal meeting time falls on Labor Day weekend. I hope everyone is remaining well and healthy.

Date:    Saturday, September 12

Time:   10 AM to noon

Place:  The Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach

Our original plan was to meet outdoors in the courtyard, but now they tell us we can use our normal meeting room, appropriately distanced and wearing masks. No set meeting topic but we will talk about our society and ways we can stay active in this coming season. We may be including more chances for plein air since being out in the open air is good for us all. 

There are only a limited number of people who will be allowed into the building at any one time, so if you want to attend this meeting you must RSVP so we can keep a tally.