April 23, 2012

We just finished a wonderful week with John MacDonald and all of his students. This was John’s first time teaching for us, but it certainly won’t be his last. He came highly recommended and we now know why. All of the student feedback was extremely positive!

John had expected to have to spend quite a bit of the workshop time painting in the studio, given the typical nature of the weather in May here in upstate NY. However, the weather has been anything but typical! It was beautiful all week long, so the class went outdoors to paint every day and loved it.

Mostly they kept local — within 10 to 15 minutes of the inn, but on Wednesday they all decided to go out to Olana, the historic home of Frederick Church. Olana is located in Hudson, which is about 30 minutes from the inn.

It was a trifle windy when they first arrived at Olana, so most people choose to set up their easels at a lower point of the hill, but there were still a couple of intrepid painters who wanted the full vista effect at the top of the hill next to the house.

This is Linda, who choose to paint the vista that includes the Rip Van Winkle bridge across the Hudson River.

Every time I go up to Olana, I always have to check out their marvelous perennial garden that is just below the main house. With the early Spring we’ve been having, you can see that everything is well on the way.

The gardening staff was in the process of spreading a layer of mulch around the flower beds, which reminds me that I have to order a big load for the gardens at the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn!

John MacDonald is schedule to return to teach for us in 2014 during September. You’ll want to sign up early for this class because I’m sure the word will spread from this year’s happy students and it will fill up quickly!