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Archive for July, 2009

Squash growing

July 29th, 2009 No comments

We consume a considerable amount of squash. So it’s not really surprising that a squash is growing out of our compost in the backyard. Yet, it is a miracle! I had wanted to make a vegetable bed in the backyard, but just didn’t have the time or resources to make it happen. And, I was busy planting paintings in the East Village this spring. A friend even gave me a packet of squash seeds. Miraculously, the squash that is growing is the same variety as the packet of seeds she gave me, though I never planted them! Yet, they are growing. Here’s the first in a series of growing squash.
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Squash growing in the compost © 2009 by Lauren Edmond

Red lily by Lil blue

July 29th, 2009 1 comment

Most of the day lilies in the Catskill/Hudson Valley region are orange tiger lilies. They grow wild everywhere, along all the roads, along stream beds and in flower beds. There are a few on this property, we affectionately call Lil Blue, and if Lil Blue was my house, I’d plant a whole lot more. The contrast of the orange against all the green is exciting. There’s a spray of red lilies in a flower bed in the backyard, dark velvety red, that really pops out. I prefer the orange, but these red lilies look like pieces of red velvet fluttering over the flower bed.

Here’s a big red lily, painted right from the backyard of ‘Lil Blue!
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“red lily” © 2009 by Lauren Edmond

Sometimes people wonder why painters choose to paint nature. It’s always there, you can just look if you want to! Yet, nature changes. It is always changing as seasons and light changes, daily, weekly, seasonally, yearly, over decades… And entering nature through a painting can change the way you experience nature. For many of my neighbors, walking in Tompkins Square Park now feels like walking in one of my paintings. It always has that effect for me, as the painter. So i was surprised that transferred to others. But that is what a painting does, it asks you to enter and explore. It takes you somewhere, which can even be your own backyard!

The Red Lilies are done for this year. The last big storm wiped out the last of them and there are no more buds. Yet, here is a 2009 red lily;-)

Categories: art, fine art, flowerscape, paintings Tags:

The Comeau

July 22nd, 2009 No comments

The Town of Woodstock is a very enlightened place for many reasons. And their town government reflects this in many ways. Mostly because the people are literally invested in keeping their community free of overdevelopment. So they learn about the issues and participate in the process of governing. The Woodstock Land Conservancy maintains easements that allow people access to the land, put there as a land trust. Keeping it that way takes vigilance.

Comeau is a land trust in Woodstock, NY. It’s about 78 acres. There are big fields for playing ball, and forested area with trails and a stream, and few more big fields. It’s dog friendly, and well-behaved dogs can roam off leash, except for the parking lot and soccer fields, which is in everyone’s best interest. We leash whenever it’s time to “hold hands”. Just reading the latest updates on the Comeau easement issue in Woodstock Times, i remembered my painting! Here’s the building where the government offices are located on the Comeau property, in the early spring of 2008. I finally “finished” it.
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Comeau in early spring, 2008 © 2009 by Lauren Edmond

6th BC Botanical Garden, spring 2009

July 22nd, 2009 No comments

my work goes through many phases. sometimes less is enough. and just seeing the paintings in all their forms can be fun.

so in that spirit, here’s the 6th BC Botanical garden in the spring of 2009. perhaps a work in progress, perhaps it is done!
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6BC Botanical Garden in bloom © 2009 by Lauren Edmond

the 6BC Botanical Garden is, of course, located on 6th Street between Avenues B&C, in the East Village, or Loisaida, or in the atlas, Tompkins Square, NY. The garden itself is a work of art, and the result of the work of many gardeners. Unlike the other community gardens where each gardener has their own plot, 6BC is one garden that all gardeners share. Here’s another painting from 6BC, in September of 2006,
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6BC September Light © 2006 by Lauren Edmond

This painting is part of the show currently hanging at Planet One Cafe. More on that show soon!

Hello world!

July 19th, 2009 No comments

Just moved my art blog to wordpress. Just because it lets you do more things and it’s more fun to use. My goal— to post more paintings!!!

Categories: art, digital fine art, fine art, paintings Tags:

On the road

July 8th, 2009 No comments

This painting is really part of my Woodstock-Saugerties series (2007-2009). The view is between the 2 towns, on the overpass of the NYS Thruway you get a good view of Overlook Mountain, which rises north of Woodstock. There is about 10 miles and a vast difference between Woodstock and Saugerties. They are as different as red and blue American, which i see as red/orange and blue/green America.

This painting is from a very hot summer day. The highlights were shimmering. I got up early to do the laundry in Saugerties. And by 9 am, it was already a scorcher! Here’s “Hot road on a summer morning” from 2008
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“Hot road on a summer morning” © 2008-2009 by Lauren Edmond

For me, the interesting thing about this view is not only the way the mountain looks, and I hope to make more paintings of this view in all kinds of weather conditions. It looks like Shangri-La with the mist rising above. And it is Shangri-La. A mythical place that is part real, part illusion. But the interest for me is the crossroad in this painting. Which way to go? Get on the thruway and zip down to NYC. Or stay on rte 212 and be in the center of Woodstock in 10 minutes. Which way to go?! And there’s a gas station, implied on the left, so you have the fuel to go where you choose. And you know one thing. It’s 9 am, and it’s already 85 degrees. Your choice!

Paintings of Woodstock and Saugerties NY 2009

July 7th, 2009 1 comment

This is a show of my recent paintings of Woodstock and Saugerties.

There are 6 paintings in this show.

First up. This is the Bridge Over Saugerties. Saugerties NY is a hidden treasure that I don’t really want to publicize, though Jimmy Fallon is a native, so he does it all the time, in his usual “pretend this is self-deprecating” style! Who ever heard of Saugerties?! The town is perched on the Hudson and there are magnificent views, including a lighthouse on the Hudson river, open to the public. Many people have lived here for generations. Yet, there are an increasing number people coming to Saugerties from all over the world. The town is just too beautiful to go unnoticed. Saugerties has several art groups, which I will hopefully be able to join for as long as I”m actively working in the area….

So here’s “Bridge Over Saugerties”, 2009. I’ve taken hundreds of photos of this bridge, in every weather condition and season. This painting is summertime, probably my favorite season to paint. Currently, the land in the foreground has been sold and will be turned into a hotel complex. Construction started over the last few weeks. I often do my laundry across the street and walk the dogs in the field and through the town. We all enjoy it ^^:-)

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Bridge over Saugerties © 2009 by Lauren Edmond
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“Village Apothecary View” © 2009 by Lauren Edmond

This the a crossroads in West Saugerties, NY. If you take a left, you go uphill to Plattekill. The road winds steeply up a deep gorge along the south side of the mountain and the view is extraordinary. Plattekill Road is narrow and kind of treacherous and is even closed from November to May. There’s a steep drop off on one side, and a sharp rise on the other. You are literally on the side of the mountain. It’s very dramatic. Or– you can make the right and you’re in West Saugerties, an old village in the valley, and on your way “into town”. Here’s the Crossroads at Plattekill, you decide which way to go– uphill or down!

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“Crossroads at Plattekill” © 2009 by Lauren Edmond

This piece is near and dear to me. It’s the view from my next door neighbor’s backyard. We’ve been renting a lil blue cottage (painting coming!) for the past 2 years and I get to spend time there and in NYC where I’ve had an apartment for going on 32 years. Wow. I can’t quite say time flew, but after 32 years and thousands of paintings, here’s “Shirley’s View”


“Shirley’s View” c 2009 by Lauren Edmond

Driving back and forth to Woodstock every day, this is one of the 2 scenes that continues to catch my eye. I just love how the mountains come up behind the house and the long driveway to the house and the mountains is like a journey in itself. This is “Devon’s Way”

“Devon’s Way” c 2009 by Lauren Edmond

And finally, the Woodstock Green. This is where hippies still gather. Kids and adults! There are drum circles on major holidays, music, events, lots of fun has happened here! What makes Woodstock so special is its continued sense of COMMUNITY. There are still land grants where you can walk for miles. And they’re dog friendly, provided your dogs are friendly! Mine are socialized, living in NYC and Woodstock. Here’s the “Woodstock Town Green”


“Woodstock Town Green” c 2009 by Lauren Edmond

Hope you enjoy the show! More to come…..!
Lauren