“Excellent class with a superb instructor! Really accomplished a great deal.” – Chris L.
Our last class of the 2016 season was with the wonderful Elizabeth Busch from Maine. She taught The Painted Quilt: Creating Small Works. The first couple of days was spent painting on canvas. Then the remainder of the class was spent on composition. Enjoy the photo tour! 
Because the first day of the workshop was Halloween, the breakfast special of the day was pumpkin pancakes! Of course, the full breakfast menu was still available with a wide range of choices. 
Monday night, for dinner, a number of people got in the Halloween spirit and dressed in costume! 
Thanks to Carol E. we had a bunch of options for those who “forgot” to pack a costume! 
It was quite the marvelous week and there was even plenty of Fall colors around the grounds to be enjoyed. 
It was a satisfying and inspiring year of workshops. We thank everyone who made it possible – students, teachers, and staff. We look forward to another exciting year in 2017. The classes are already filling up and we haven’t even sent out the brochures yet. Keep warm and we’ll see you next year!
On another day the group went down to paint riverside by the Hudson River in the town of Athens. Lots of great subject matter and they also enjoyed discovering the local brewery, 
A merry and spirited time was always had around the dinner table every night, but the final dinner on Friday night was especially festive. There were toasts, speeches, singing, and dancing. 
Do miss your opportunity to discover this experience next year when Alvaro returns to teach a 
There was a wide range of media used by the students. 
This is also a group that knows how to let loose and have some fun in the after hours studio time! 
The perfect Fall weather made the back lawns of the inn a great place to take a break and stretch you legs. 
If you missed your chance at coming to this years workshop, Elizabeth will be back again in June of 2018!
Richard had loads of information and guidance for all the students, as well as plenty of great stories that only a traveling art teacher can have! Here he was regaling the group with some rattlesnake stories from his workshops out west. 
The class spent a full day at 
Enjoying the delivered picnic lunch! 
Richard McKinley is one of our most popular instructors, so about half the class signed up for his 2018 class before they left this year’s class. If you want to get in on the fun in 2018, but sign up fast!
This is a cold wax piece in the works by one of the artists who comes every year. He says this place is “his muse” and is always preparing for a show when he comes to the retreat. When he returns the next year, we get the report of all his paintings that have sold that he created at the retreat. 
Here we have the work of the first of the “dueling painters”. This woman would go out early in the morning and paint outdoors at some of the wonderful locations in the area. 
Then this painter would ask us for a photo of the same location from our extensive files and he would gleefully paint the same scene while remaining in the air conditioned studio with coffee, lunch, and cookie time just a short walk away. 
And speaking of food, everyone enjoyed the maple soy salmon on one of the nights. 
The squirrels are busy around the inn! They left this “art installation” – Exploded Pinecone – on the little bridge to the carriage house. 
Innovation and invention are in abundance in the workshop – is Esterita and one of her students showing how they turned a folding chair into an painting easel! 
Some garden inspiration around the inn! It is peak echinacea season at the moment. 
We have finally arrived at the season of beautiful, temperate weather! Just warm enough, with a tiny bit of chill in the evenings. This was taken just after a 5 minute rain storm. 
Susan brought a whole bunch of her work for the class to see. This is one big stack of talent here. 
On the last day was a critic of the students work, with each person describing what they liked best about their work and what they thought needed improvement. 
Since the chill is back in the evening air, we now have in stock some fabulously soft and warm hoody sweatshirts. They come in black, navy, and blue with a contrast color on the inside of the hood. The minute I put them out most of our staff said they wanted one! 
Dinner with Mel was always a jolly time. In fact on the final night he had them tapping a rhythm while he sang for them. 
Following the week with Mel, Margaret Evans arrived on the scene to teach Pastels Unleash! The weather that week was a bit on the hot side, but Margaret always found some nice shady areas for painting her demo. 
This is Troy up close and personal! 
There are two other inn dogs, in case you didn’t know, Hudson, a dalmatian, and Bree, a ridgeback, who mostly get out and about while the class is in session. They have their own room on the 3rd floor of the Main Inn.
Here is everyone taking their turns shoot photos of the two models in various set ups around the front parlor of the inn. 
Here you can see the two models in kimonos posing on the antique furniture. 
Now the work begins, first with a background, then sketching in the shapes. 
The weather was so beautiful (and the studio so full of easels) that we decided to have our “coming attractions” (workshops for the rest of 2016 and also a preview of 2017) presentation on the front porch of the inn after dinner. 
This year’s dinner menu theme is “Best Of” as suggested by the students who have come to the workshops over the past 11 years. One of the dishes submitted as a favorite was the Lion’s Head Meatball from last year. It is a tender pork meatball Shanghi-style, served with baby bok choy and rice noodles. Freshly made vegetable spring rolls are also served, filled with mushrooms, carrots, and bean sprouts. (We very happy accommodate dietary restrictions. So if there is a particular thing that you do not eat, let us know when you sign up and we will prepare a delicious alternate!) 
Having a picnic lunch at K & K! Such a beautiful setting. 
Besides the fun in the workshop, we got a nice shipment of new art supplies and tools for our shop. 
There were also plenty of lovely sights around the inn grounds. It is peony season at the moment. 
The weather during the week was also lovely and the back lawns were a great place to stretch your legs during breaks from class. 
Here is the joyful crew posing for a class photo on the final day. 
More of Bob’s morning demos. 
More rope tricks by Bob! 
It was sad to see such a happy group leave at the end of the week, but Bob will be back again next year in June. Before Bob left, he and Mark had their heads together quietly scheming about an even more elaborate after-dinner show for next year! Don’t miss it, sign up now.
Koo always supplies the fresh eggs for mixing the paints (egg yolks and pigment). 
Koo will be returning again in 2019! Plan ahead.
These are some close-ups of some of the magnificent works that Sandra brought with her. Such amazing detail! 
Some example projects that the students had to choose from for the process of learning the specific techniques that Sandra uses. 
We also had a winner of our Early Bird Drawing in Sandra’s workshop. We had a drawing every year from the pool of students who sign up for a workshop before our workshop season begins. There are 3 possible prizes and Katherine Stevenson won 3rd prize for the year. For the fiber art workshops, the 3rd prize is a $100 gift certificate to Hudson River Valley Art Workshops. The gift certificate can be used to put towards another workshop or for shopping in our supply shop, or it can even be using the buy chocolate from our organic chocolates shop, Life By Chocolate! Such a deal. 
Sandra also bought along a good selection of her kits for other appliqué projects for further practice before venturing forth with your own designs. 
Outside the studio the Spring flowers are finally starting to put in a show. This tulip is obviously an overachiever! 
The next fiber art workshops coming up in our 2016 schedule are with 
This is one of Paula’s quilts that has so far not been published in any book. Mark and I saw Paula at the Houston International Quilt Festival a couple years ago when she was quilting this quilt in the 
This workshop had a nice mix of repeat students (some have come to everyone of the workshops that Paula has taught with us since 2006), repeat for our workshops students, but new to Paula, and just totally new to Paula and us. Their was great camaraderie among the whole group. 
As usual, Paula brought along a large selection of her latest fabric designs produced by 
Because Paula is within driving distance of us, she was able to bring lots of her amazing work to show to the class and inspire them. 
These are some of the fantastic snowflake pieces made by Kaisa Mackie. 
The workshop week started out with a bit of snow, but by the end of the week the snow had all melted away and Spring was back on the horizon. 
Our next fiber art workshops coming up are with 
Baked a new supply of pumpkin parsley dog biscuits for when we get canine guests. 
Then 
Everyone eagerly got right to work. Grace provided plenty of demonstrations on her “heat-set” appliqué technique. 
Outside the studio we had beautiful Spring weather. 
Inside we had frogs! These are some of Grace’s pieces that she brought to show to the class. 
The cat is taking shape. The clear plastic overlay is used to aid in positioning the pieces. 
An orchid coming together. 
Hibiscus, too. 
Class mascot, fast asleep. 
Then on the last day, this happened! Winter seemed to finally arrive. It only looked this way first thing in the morning. A couple hours later it was completely gone. But we enjoyed the beautiful serenity of the snow-covered landscape while it was there. 
All sorts of stamps and recycled materials were available for making marks on the paintings. 
Here you see an assembled abstract landscapes coming together made with strips of painted canvas. 
Throughout the days, Katie would introduce new techniques for adding interest, texture, form and line to the painted canvases. This is a drip technique use to good effect. 
A composition by Cindy Heath. 
An amazing landscape by Kathy Nurge. 
A great composition by Sherry Shine. 
Katie also showed the group how to put together a fun abstract floral still life. This one is also by Sherry Shine. 
Here is Katie’s still life arrangement. 
Next Katie brought out the power tools. She showed the group how to construct their own frames for the stitched paintings. 
One the frame was assembled, Katie demonstrated how to attach the stitched painting to the frame. 
These are book covers that Katie showed everyone how to make with the painted canvases. 
Another thing to do with the painted canvases was to create mini zippered bags for holding stuff! So if you didn’t like the way your painted canvas turned out, Katie showed the group that there were lots of ways to make use of them. 
On the final day of class every one put all the work on display and we all went around the studio on a tour. This is the work of Sherry Shine. 
This is what it looked like to the person standing next to their art work and talking about it. The paparazzi in action! 
This is the work of Kim LaPolla. 
This is the work of Jane Pinchuck. 
A fun landscape by Alison Chandler. 
The work of Manon Boisvert. 
The work of Kathy Nurge. 
The work of Donna Dynes. 
The work of Cindy Heath. 
Earlier in the year, Katie also taught her Log Cabin Abstracts workshop and Alison also attended that workshop and brought back her finished piece to show to everyone. 
It was such a fun workshop that the group formed a “Painting Monday” challenge to motivate everyone to keep on painting! Katie will be back again teaching in 2017 and will teach her fabulous Fractured Landscapes class. Don’t miss it!
