At the Red House

 

View of the Red House in Bath County.

It's been a ten days since I arrived at the Red House in Millboro, VA to be Artist-in-Residence for four weeks. Bath County is one of Virginia's western mountain counties that borders with West Virginia and is home to several natural spring resorts that became popular vacation spots in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In the days before air conditioning, many people flocked to these cooler mountain resorts during the sweltering summers of the DC and Richmond areas. Today the area remains rural and very scenic, popular with hikers and outdoor enthusiasts.

The animals here are my only companions: Moonstar, the horse, and two goats, Brownie and the Old Lady--they live in the sheds behind the house and enjoy an ample and lovely pasture on the hillside.

 

Moonstar and the goats.

Moonstar

 

I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and was greeted by a light shower that kept up all through unloading the car--I unloaded only the items I would need for the night and my groceries, leaving most of the art supplies for the next day. Around evening, the clouds cleared and the sun came out, so I got out a small sketchbook,  palette and brushes to do a quick watercolor of the hillside while the evening light lasted. 

I reheated the leftover spaghetti I'd brought for my first meal and made a salad to go with it but--oh, no! I'd forgotten to bring the wine! And a bunch of other groceries too: dairy, deli cuts, half and half for my tea and such. Oh well, I could survive without those for a few days.

The next morning, Amanda stopped by to look in on me and we chatted for a while. When I told her I'd left my supply of wine at home, she was kind enough to offer to bring me some she had at her house, which she did in the evening when she came by to put out feed for the horse and goats.

My BASNCR friend Judy Thomas, who was the first Artist-in-Residence here last fall and is now assisting Amanda with the program as Art Director, drove up from Richmond on Tuesday morning so she and Amanda could lead me on a hike around the property and show me around. They had found some showy orchids (Galearis spectabilis) in a patch of woods on the property two weeks earlier.

 

Putty root orchid (Aplectrum hyemale)

The Galearis had finished blooming and some flowers were setting seed, but we found several Putty root orchids in the same area of the woods. The soil here seems to be rich in the mycorrhizal fungi that helps native orchids grow and thrive. I wonder what other orchids could be found here?

After our hike, Judy stayed for lunch and we chatted about trails and areas of interest that she had explored during her residency here last October and the workshop she had done here. I too will be offering a workshop, this coming Saturday, so the tips were appreciated.

Judy had planned a three-week trip to the Acadia National Park in Maine for later in the week, and left after lunch to start preparing for that. I planned to go back the next day to sketch the orchid from life, which I did--more on that in the next post.