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| Summerset on Rose Hill, watercolor, 10"h x 14"w. |
Recently I was contacted by a lady who had purchased my "Fabulous Franklinia" painting at Art at the Mill this fall. She had acquired a historic property about 20 minutes from where I live, is in the process of restoring it, and wanted me to document the house and buildings in a series of paintings before and after the restoration, as well as perhaps create a botanical journal to document the plants on the site.
The property records date back to the mid 1700's, although the house, Summerset on Rose Hill, was not built until later. The former owner, Mr. Norman Baker, purchased the property in 1961 and did a good deal of restoration in the 60-some years that he resided in it. He also wrote a book on the history of the entire area known as the Crooked Run Valley, which I'm in the process of reading. I'll post more about that and Summerset as I read on and learn more about it. And there will be more paintings of it, too.
My client made a date to meet at the property and show me around. We walked the site on a pleasant, sunny afternoon, and discussed which views she liked and thought merited paintings. We both took photos and agreed I'd start with a small watercolor of the ensemble of buildings as seen from a particular viewpoint she liked best.
I waited to find another afternoon when the weather was equally pleasant, and last Saturday the opportunity presented itself. I'd sketched the buildings and composition from my photo ahead of time, so I wouldn't lose time doing the preparatory pencil sketch on site. At this time of the year the window for getting the right light and shadows in the afternoon is about two hours, after that the sun begins to move away towards the tops of the hills, and the light fades.
With the aid of my photo, I was able to find the exact spot for this view when I walked up the driveway, and got started on the painting right away. I studied the shadows and marked them so that as they started to lengthen I would still have something as a guide. And of course, I took more photos. By about four o'clock, the sun was gone from the scene, and the chill of nightfall was starting to descend-- time to head home. The painting still had a ways to go to completion, but by then I had a very clear map to do so; with the aid of my photos, I finished the painting at home.
