Artist's Residency at Sunny Point

Sunny Point Art Center on Keuka Lake—view from my kayak.

Last week I had the pleasure of spending time on Keuka Lake with my artist friends Aleta Wynn Yarrow and Gretchen Halpert. The Arts Center of Yates County has a beautiful location at Sunny Point for Artist Residencies, Retreats and Workshops. Check out all they have to offer on their website: www.ycac.org

The purpose of an artist residency or retreat is to give an artist time to create their art, away from the distractions and routines of daily life. The experience is especially wonderful if you can share it with inspiring artist friends. Aleta and Gretchen made my stay even more enjoyable. Here we are warming up for a day of painting and creating with some yoga.

Yoga before painting

I spent my days at Sunny Point enjoying the beautiful surroundings and completing some watercolor paintings. I did not give myself any big goals to accomplish (I've been doing too much of that lately). I just wanted to use the time to enjoy watercolor painting and absorbing inspiration from the environment.

Watercolor study—view of the studio barn from the cottage dining table. Can you smell Gretchen cooking dinner in the background?

Watercolor study of the trees on Sunny Point surrounded by lake water.

Rainy day watercolor of foliage changing on Keuka Lake. I used the splattering technique to create that rainy day wet feeling—leaving droplets of water on the paper.

Windblown autumn leaves caught in delicate spider webs. The wind kept trying to take my paper too.

I really enjoyed the peaceful time here at Sunny Point. Thank you Chris and everyone at the Arts Center of Yates County who make this Residency possible!
If you are interested in finding Artist Residencies or Retreats for yourself, check out this website: http://artistcommunities.org/. You'll find a wonderful directory for Artists of all disciplines there.

Happy creating!
Bridget