Events/Store: Vermont Paint-Out, March 13-18, 2012
Sugaring season is a special time in Vermont. It's just at the start of Vermont's famous Mud Season, the time between winter and spring, when - if the days are warm and the nights are cold - the maple sap runs and the sugarhouses steam. There are few tourists about and the cows still hew close to the barns. But the chickadees will be whistling their spring calls, the pussy willows will be emerging and the buds on the trees will be starting to redden.
And in March, the Old Tavern in Grafton, Vermont will become the center of a small group of painters, heading out each day to paint outdoors, returning each evening to discuss day's work, to socialize, to learn from one another. They are Plein Air painters - a hardy breed who are willing to brave challenging weather in order to capture the fleeting essence of light on the natural world, a group willing to paint in mud, snow, mist or, when heaven smiles, in brilliant sunshine.
The Old Tavern is the epicenter for the group. Each day, the group will meet for coffee and scones (full breakfast is available in the inn's dining room) then head out to one or another of Vermont painter Charlie Hunter's favorite painting spots. A catered bag lunch will be provided each day.
One day the group will visit and paint at a sugaring operation (either at Charlie's mom's, or other friends of his, like his very emphatic friend Bart's), where one can see (and taste) as maple sap get turned into maple syrup (it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup). Another day, perhaps they will paint at a working farm, in the village of Grafton, or the industrial village of Bellows Falls. If weather in inclement, indoor painting space will be available, either in Grafton or in Hunter's studio in Bellows Falls.
As well, Hunter will offer a couple of more formal demonstrations of his painting technique for those who want to observe and discuss.
Come evening, the group will gather for dinner (two dinners at the Old Tavern's excellent restaurant, where $30 per person is included in your payment, and three more- informal pub dinners, where $15 each is pre-paid), then the group will hang their day's work, share a few beverages, and talk art-talk until the cows come home (actually, cows come home when it gets dark out, but you know what we mean).
Then to bed, and wake up in the morning and do it all again.
Sound like fun?
The price is just $625 per person for a shared room (we'll pair you with someone if you're a solo, as registrations allow), or $749 for a private one-person room. Deluxe suites are available for $1,059 for a solo or $1,489 for a couple (a suite consists of a separate sitting room besides the bed room and in some cases large soaking tubs and separate showers. Beds are either queen or king size). You can also sign up for painting & meals only (no hotel) for $299 for the whole thing or $85/day ($105 on Saturday).
