Branford--Supply Ponds and Foote Park-- October 31, 2013

There were several painters who had their hearts set on painting at Foote Park so they gambled with the weather.  Fortunately, the day turned out perfect for them.  It was warm with no wind.  When the sprinkles started, Jay, Betsy, Cheryl and I (Sally) stepped back a few paces and painted in the protection of the shelter.  The sun broke through occasionally, brightening the burnt sienna leaves.

Joan and Judy painted at Supply Ponds. They both were able to get the initial washes down before the rain.  Having to leave early, they were unable to finish their paintings.  Scroll down for Joan's photos of the scenes that inspired them.  First are photos of Foote Park, our group, and our paintings.  We had a great time painting and enjoying a very mild fall day.

Sally

Note: if you click on the first photo, all the photos will be available in a larger format and you can right arrow through them.

 Supply Pond photos of inspiration from Joan.

Call to Paint -- Thursday, 31 October 2013 -- 10 AM -- NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE

Greetings to All,

Again I'm putting off Foote Park in Branford for another time. I think that spot is better for a hot summer day. But with light breezes from the SSE, I think the Branford Supply Pond complex would be a good place. Likely not much sun, but maybe above 50 degrees by 10 AM. And although the leaves are largely down, there still is quite a bit of color in the trees and brush. What more could we expect on the last week in October? I would just caution you to watch out for poison ivy if you step into the roadside grasses. I came away itching when we painted here in the spring.

Directions below.

I hope to see you there.

/j

BRANFORD SUPPLY PONDS, Short Rocks Road, Branford

From the south on I-95, take Exit 54 - Cedar Street. Turn south (right) and get in the left lane, ready to turn left (east), after about 0.3 mile, onto Route 1. Go about 0.6 mile, and turn left (north) next to a tavern on Chestnut. Chestnut will take you winding through the woods, and over a little bridge between two ponds, about 0.6 mile. After crossing the bridge, you will see a parking area and signs for the trails. We can convene there.

From the north on I-95, take Exit 55 - North Main Street (Route 1). Turn west (right), toward Branford. Go about 0.7 mile to the light at Mill Plain Road. Turn north (right). After passing under the highway, take your first left (west) onto Short Rocks Road. This will take you through a small residential area and along the length of one of the ponds. After about 0.6 mile, you will see the parking area on your right, just before the road turns to go over the little bridge between the two ponds. Do not go over the bridge. We can convene here.

 Again, you might want to drive around to find where you think you want to paint and drop your stuff off and come back to park here. However, there are other roadside pull-off areas where I believe you could park without anyone objecting.

Madison Surf Club -- 24 October 2013

Greetings to All,

It was a short morning for me. After 1-1/2 hours of searching for my keys, I finally found them in my refrigerator. When I had dropped them into my shopping bag on Wednesday, they fell into a bag of grapes, and I didn't notice them when I put the grapes away. So I arrived at the Surf Club at 11 AM. Cheryl had arrived only a few minutes earlier. Bob Van M and Joan McP came early and left early. Sally, Elena, and Elena's friend Ed M.also painted. So we were 7 for a beautiful morning in a beautiful place. Most of us managed to hunker down behind a wind-break and soak up the sunshine, but those who painted in the wind seemed not to mind it much.

I'm including some candid shots from Sally, in addition to my recap photos. Ed didn't want to stop for the recap. He worked in oil, and Elena worked the two pastels.

We'll hope to try Foote Memorial Park again next week, but it depends on the weather.

Photos from Madison Surf Club

 

 

 

Info

Just to let you know, I may not be posting today's paint out until Saturday or Sunday. Scrambling on a deadline.  

/j

Call to Paint -- Thursday, 24 October 2013 -- 10 AM - NOTE CHANGE IN TIME AND VENUE ***

OK, now we have to push up our start time to 10 AM. Looks like winter is coming this week. And it looks like we will have wind, as well, so I'm going to say that our formerly planned venue, Foote Park, will not be the best place, as there is no way to get out of the wind.

So let's try Madison Surf Club. We can find plenty of shelter there, and hopefully plenty to paint, as well. My apologies to our Branford painters. We'll try to head to Branford next week, but the Surf Club provides better options for now.

Directions below.

I hope to see you there.

/j

MADISON SURF CLUB -- 87 Surf Club Road, Madison   From I-95, take Exit 61. Turn south off the exit onto Route 79 South (Durham Road). Travel on Route 79 for approximately 0.7 miles. Turn right (west) at the traffic light onto Boston Post Road. Travel on Boston Post Road for approximately 0.5 miles. Turn left (south) onto West Wharf Road. Travel on West Wharf Road for approximately 0.3 mile.   Turn right (west) onto Surf Club Road. Travel on Surf Club Road for approximately 0.5 mile to the Surf Club entrance, then follow the drive (counter-clockwise) around to the far side of the parking area, near the grove of trees by the beach. We will plan to meet there, but if you don't find anyone there, check around the surf club buildings.

Dudley Farm -- 17 October 2013

I love this time of year when we have a full complement of painters who tend to come every week like clockwork. Ten of us turned up at Dudley Farm this morning on a gloomy but mellow day. But the leaves have been quietly falling, and the remaining foliage colors are subdued, with quite a bit of green still there on this third week in October -- still having had no frost. Will we have to pay for this long season of relative warm, like last year, with a rapid plunge into a long, hard winter?......

Anyway, who could complain about the conditions we had today, even if the sun did not shine until after we were gone? We were Kay, Sally, Hans, Jay, David M I think for the first time this season, Betsey, Silvia, Cheryl, new member Sandy Murray out with us for the first time, and me. Although I think we spent about half our time chatting, we all managed to express ourselves in paint, as well. Sandy worked in acrylic. David had to leave early.

After we finished, Sally toured the inside of the house and shot a few pics, which are included here.

Next week, lets try Foote Park in Branford again. I'll post the directions.

I just wanted to note -- for those of you who subscribe to the email feeds -- since the photos don't work quite the same as when we sent them directly by email, if you want to see the photos pretty much full-screen in a slide show, you can get that by going to the blog and clicking on any photo and then navigating through them. It's really a nicer way to view them. If you want to save a photo, you don't have to go to the blog. In your email, right click on the photo and select "save as" or "save all" and then file it where you want it on your computer. That also gives you more options for how you view the photos.

/j

Photos from Dudley Farm