"Come Sit With Me II"

8"x8" Oil on
Gallery-Wrapped Canvas painted en plein air alla prima on location at the Skylight Farm in Cashiers, NC NFS Gifted

This was my first painting I painted while visiting Cashiers NC to participate in the Joy Garden Tour.  I loved the morning light highlighting this sweet vignette.

"Church of the Good Shepherd"

11"x14" Oil on Linen Panel  painted alla prima En Plein Air on location at this church located on highway 107 south of the cross roads of Cashiers, NC  sold

This lovely little historic church was the subject of my Thursday morning painting for the Joy Garden Tour.  At the Sunday Jazz Brunch when this was purchased, the buyer informed me of the heartbreaking tale of a woman who lost all four of her daughters under the age of 7 to cholera while her husband had to be away for the winter.

Imagine leaving your family for work and returning 3 or 4 months later to your grieving wife who tried desperately to care for your four children, lost them to sickness and buried them herself digging through frozen earth.  Imagine being that mother who faced a mother's worst nightmare alone.

My new friend who now owns this painting says that each time she comes to town she stops by to pay her respects at the monument the church set aside honoring this mother's courage and strength.  It is marked by an old iron gate behind the church.  There you will find the story inscribed at the site.

"Resting Among the Flowers"

 10"x8" Oil on Cavas painted alla-prima En Plein Air on location at The Mountain Man Caves off of Hwy 107 in Cashiers, NC  sold

(This image has no shine, the second image has good color but a shine, so I am showing the painting both ways.)

This charming structure was once the guard gate to one of Cashiers very exclusive communities: Wade Hampton.  It is now "retired" to the "Mountain Man Cave" property and is surrounded by lovely flowers and landscaping.

On this Thursday afternoon, I set to paint here for the Joy Garden Tour.  My friends who conceived the concept for the Mountain Man Caves purchased this little building and relocated it on their property to function as an extra "community" building, affectionately known as "The Dog House."  The Dog House is complete with a seating area and bathroom and allows the Man Cave owners to come and hang out together and play poker or "whatever men do in their caves."

"Meander"

16"x8" Oil on Canvas  sold

This is the morning painting, the first of two paintings, I painted for the Joy Garden Tour.

The top of this trickling brook is fed by a beautiful large pond full of rainbow trout and other species of fish that "happen" to find their way into the waterway through a pipe.  I'm told by the garden owner that they even find their way "out" down this little stream. 

This garden was created by the owner himself and it was glorious!

This stream winds its way down under a lovely little step bridge adorned with colorful flowers in a window-type basket.  The walk-way with which the bridge is connected leads the wanderer either back up into the garden (with this being the view on the way back up toward the house) or rambles away from the house toward the back of the property which leads to the golf course fairway.

"View to the Course"

The Copper frog was made in Charleston, SC and now resides in this glorious garden in Cashiers, NC

11"x14" Oil on Linen painted en plein air Alla~Prima on location at one of the 5 gardens featured in The Joy Garden Tour of Cashiers North Carolina. sold

This view is from the outdoor kitchen deck of the house looking down into the lower level pond out toward the back of the property which backs up to a golf course.  Yes, there is access to the golf course from here. :)

This is a fund-raiser for the community's Village Green: a beautiful 12-acre facility that caters to the Cashiers community & visitors and the surrounding area.

"Rock Mountain Morning"

The early morning mist gently rises from the cool valleys below

8"x10" Oil on Canvas painted en plein air alla prima style on location at Skylight Farm in Cashiers, NC  sold

I painted this painting as I awoke early that Saturday morning.  I noticed the clear sky was being met by the cool valley mist between the mountain tops and I quickly set to work!  This was painted with a cup of coffee in one hand and a brush in the other!

painting in my PJ's

"Quiet Interlude"

 12"x12" Oil on Cavas, painted alla prima en plein air on location at Skylight Farm in Cashiers, NC  sold

This was my final painting I was able to paint for the Joy Garden Tour.  I loved the organic, sweep of these rock steps and how the moss frames them in their nooks.  It is as though I must stop to consider the beauty before I step!

"Still Life with Flowers and Fruit" SOLD

14"x11" Oil on Linen Panel SOLD at the Joy Garden Tour

"Distant Old Bald" SOLD

16"x20" Oil on Canvas  SOLD

Old Bald is the name of the granite-faced mountain which overlooks Fairfield Lake within one of the most beautiful locations in the region: Camp Merrie-Woode, an all-girls summer camp in Sapphire NC.
It's a magical place!

"Norton Falls at Lake Glenville" Final (I promise)

24"x30" Oil on Canvas

I just couldn't leave this alone!  As I stare at it in my home everyday I see things that "need work," so I decided to go back into it a bit.  I am pleased that I did. "Glenville Falls" just needed some finishing touches. Now it is ready to go to the gallery in Cashiers, NC.

"Glenville Falls" Final

24"x30" Oil on Linen Canvas  Available at Mountain Mist Gallery www.mountainmistgallery.com

Final image.  What fun!!!!  I'll be visiting this place again in the next month.  Can't wait!

"High Hampton's #8"

11"x14" Oil on Linen Panel  (available at www.maryhoffmanfineart.com)

Our final morning to paint before the judging!  High Hampton Inn and Country Club beckoned to be painted and here I found, up on this bluff looking down at the lake and onto the 8th green, my vision.  I enjoyed this painting process so much!  What a beautiful world in which we live - especially in the Blue Ridge Mountain area!

"Lil' Valley Shack" SOLD

9"x12" Oil on Linen Panel  sold

 

The Cashiers Plein Air Painters were privy to some of the most beautiful private property on which to paint.  The owner of this magnificent land allowed us to walk through her front door onto her back porch where we set up our easels.  The home owner's graciousness was the epitome of hospitality that we experienced all over Cashiers.  She owns a Highlands Cow named "Carolina" who happened into the scene but quickly walked to a more shady spot; too quick for me to capture.  However, I enjoyed her hillside pasture.  This one is also one of my very favorites of the week.

"Lifestyle Personified" SOLD

6"x8" Oil on Linen Panel  sold

We went back to Camp Merriewoode to paint one more time and along the road leading into the camp was this precious little scene.  The Adirondack chairs looking out onto the lake personifies the laid-back lifestyle of Cashiers NC.

"Wolf Lake - Chinquapin"

12"x16" Oil on Linen Panel

This started out as a 16x20 but proved to be too much for me to handle Plein Air.  So I trimmed it down and the composition improved!!!  This was done en plein air and it is the largest plein air painting I think I've ever done in one outing (alla prima).

I'm told the lake is so named because when viewed from above its shape resembles a wolf.

"Lonesome Falls" SOLD

9"x12" Oil on Gessobord brand panel  sold

The gracious folks at Lonesome Valley residential community opened their arms and their hearts and allowed the Cashiers Plein Air Painters to capture the beauty of their neighborhood.  I've painted these falls before and I just can't get enough!  This was one of my personal favorites.