Sunday, January 31, 2010

Snowcamp

Here is the view of the White Mountains we painted today at snowcamp. It was pretty cold, I believe it was about 10 below zero when we set up in the morning and I am not sure it got above zero all day. But we had fun, some of us went inside to warm up briefly but everybody was out all day. It turned out to be an equipment test, as usual. If you had the right equipment you were fine, if not you needed to go in and warm up now and then.

Some of the paintings looked real good and a lot of people were surprised that they could do it. They will have a heroic story to tell when they get home. At the end of the day we had dinner around an enormous round table and told painting stories and a few ghost stories.

Does this hat look good on me? Notice the ice on my mustache. Notice also please, the nice stonework behind me. Just to the right of my shoulder you can see the tool marks on the granite. This stuff was cut by hand . You can see the tool marks in the picture below too. You might notice also the real divided light 19th or early 20th century window in this one. I know, its a Yankee thing. But we like old stuff here.

There's a look of determination. Its 50 degrees colder outside than in your refrigerator.

Here I am doing a demo painting. I had a great time today. I really love painting snow. I think several others in the workshop got the same thrill. Winter is the best time to paint outside!

21 comments:

Tim said...

Every mustache worth his salt needs to have some ice in it from time to time! 10 below freezing I assume, and if you guys can do it so can I damn it! Looks like a great time. Glad to see your not compromising on size either!

Look forwards to tomorrows report!

Stapleton Kearns said...

No Tim, about 40 degrees Fahrenheit below freezing.
..................Stape

Mary Byrom said...

Great pictures - keep them coming. Nice mountain painting Stapleton. You guys had some awesome, clear conditions- you could see the top of the mountains! You had real winter temperatures- Yesterday was better than the day before, I'm glad you did not have the strong winds we had on Thursday & Friday. It was 9 with a wind chill of -14 and burning any exposed skin. So at least you didn't have to deal with that & the sun was out.

mariandioguardi.com said...

Yeah, Tim, Stapleton is talking about -24C. Northern Swedish cold.And he's not factoring wind chill.

OK, intellectually I know that I am about to do this next weekend but Am I really going to do this? Yeah..I'm only sane on the outside. It's suppose to warm up to about
-8C and into our 20'sF , Whoopee!But with my luck the wind will make up the difference.N.H. here we come!

Philip Koch said...

Loved the photos!

barbara b. land of boz said...

Stapleton, you polar bears are real tough cookies. The view of the White Mountains are beautiful.
I'm looking forward to more pics.
Your painting on yesterdays post is awesome. Thank you for sharing your thought process. Would love a post on lead-ins also.

Have fun and may you all stay toasty.
barbara b.

Unknown said...

Dang, that looks like fun! WE are not sure whether any of those folks are male or female - hard to tell under all the layers. Great painting too. I have run along that entire ridge more than once, but in the winter it is nice to look at it from below with the option of hot chocolate nearby.
I WISH I WAS THERE!!!!

Tim said...

Wait a min, 32 F is freezing. that equals 0 C. -24 degrees C is ´-10 F...

Thats cold. I mean really cold.

billspaintingmn said...

Stape, you're a tall bugger!
Minnesota produces "Big Fish" to the world, your one of 'em.
Love the hat, no "NIKE" logos either.
That easel is serious stuff!
I wish I was there, darn I wish I was there!
Ghost stories? From brrr to booo!
Fun post!

willek said...

Great post, once again. But I am still stuck on yesterdays painting. I like the way you masked part of the buildings with the trees, I probably would have walked by that scene because of that. Very informative.

By the way, how did you manage to attract so many Muslims to Snow camp?

Stapleton Kearns said...

Mary:
The light was great and we were in the lee of a building. It was not really a problem, IF you had the right boots.
.....................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Marian:
Its no big deal. Don't worry about it. Everyone was fine and it was super cold.No sweat.
............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Philip:
Thanks. I have a few more.
......................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Barbara:
They whites are beautiful. I will try to remember to do a post on lead ins. Remind me.
..................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Deb:
It would have been fun to have you here. Maybe I will do another snowcamp next year.
......................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Tim:
Yeah, cold.
.....................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Bill:
Minnesota is great training for the mild New Hampshire weather.
.......................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Willek:
I liked that the scene was partially masked by trees.I actually opened it up some. Did you get some decent boots, those rubber waders aren't going to cut it!
..............Stape

Deborah Paris said...

Looks like great fun!Guess I won't be complaining about my unheated studio anymore....

Stapleton Kearns said...

Deborah:
You can still complain, but not to anyone who went to snowcamp.
.................Stape

. said...

thanks for sharing this wonderful post