I belong to Wet Paint Studio Group and for the last few years we have been having a 2 day paintout at the Fire Island Lighthouse. For some reason this year it was scheduled for the Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, a very busy time. I hoped to go on Friday but the weather wasn't great and I didn't want to get stuck far from my car if it started raining. My plan was to go on Saturday but get there before all the people who were celebrating the holiday. It can get extremely crowded there on the weekend.
I left home about 6:15 am, picked up a bagel and coffee for breakfast, and then realized I had left my lunch at home. (Presently there is no food available at this beach due to remodeling). I turned around, went home and was at Robert Moses State Park Field 5 at 6:45. I had my breakfast, used the porta-potty (the ladies room at the concession is also closed), grabbed all my materials and headed out to paint. I've painted there so many times that I really wanted a different view. I walked all the way past the lighthouse and down to the dock. I was able to stand about halfway out so I could get a view of the water as well as the lighthouse.
For my second piece I moved closer to the lighthouse along the walkway in front of the lighthouse.
By this time I was ready for a lunch break...and so were most of the other artists who were in various places painting too. The staff at the lighthouse had a room set aside for us with coffee, treats and comfy chairs for us to relax for a while. It felt so good to sit down since I had been standing for about 5 hours already.
For those who have never done a paint out, in addition to your painting supplies you have to be ready to hang your artwork. So in my cart that I brought along with me I had mats and frames as well as anything I thought I might need to get the paintings ready to hang. I brought along 3 frames so I figured I might as well do one more for the last frame. This is the boat house and after I painted it a docent came along and opened it to the public.
Our group now has about 23 paintings hanging for sale in the lens house next to the lighthouse. They will be there for the next 2 weeks.
Here is my setup for the first painting. I had an umbrella up until I finished painting the sky. The sun was behind me and I didn't want the sky to dry before I got all the blue done.
Here is part of the painting against the view.
