Day on the Land - Crystal Springs

"Day on the Land" - for some reason that reminds me of the classic Brian Eno recording "On Land", but instead of music... you guessed it - this has to do with painting.

Yesterday was "Day on the Land" - the 3rd annual fund-raiser / paint-out organized the the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance, aka the HLTA. Last year, it was at the Dvoor Farm, this year it was held at the Crystal Springs Section of the Teetertown Preserve near Califon, NJ. Crystal Springs is some recently preserved parkland - 291 acres of mature forest, active farmland and 5 ponds which are the headwaters of Spruce Run Creek.

This corner of New Jersey is new to me and the last few miles approaching the park, it felt more like I was in Vermont than in New Jersey. Since it's new to me, I went there a couple of weeks ago to check it out and I did this painting at one of the farm fields:

"Crystal Springs Fields"
8x10 oil on panel

Yesterday was the paint-out, and here's where I setup to paint - it was hot out, so I looked hard for a spot that would remain shady for a hours. If only I could find a spot where the horseflies weren't biting! This lane led to the farmhouse (which is no longer there):


While painting, one of the HLTA volunteers was gracious enough to bring sandwiches and snacks to the artists, and even offered to help carry my stuff back when I was finished - a nice change from my usual plein air routine of finishing the day tired and hungry! Here's the finished painting:

"Crystal Springs Farm Lane"
14x11 oil on panel

This painting, along with the work of the other painters and photographers out that day, will be auctioned off on October 19 at the Prallsville Mills in Stockton, NJ. Funds raised will go the HLTA. I'll post more details closer to that date.