Wilson Tuscarora State Park Secret Spot

c. Kath Schifano 2012

Wilson Tuscarora State Park has a main entrance, road to activities and parking lots, but it also has a 'secret' entrance about 1/2 mile east. I pulled my car onto the grass and walked through a meadow, up a hill and along a wooded path to find my fellow painters at work in an amazing secluded area. Sherrill Primo had hiked here and suggested it as a good plein air location, I think I could return there all year with so many views of water, hills, flowers, reeds and wildlife to choose from.

There were a number of trees downed by beavers as well as a few that had been started over the years. This was my first paint out in a beaver area so I was attracted to the pointed tree stumps like litter in the area. This painting shows three of my fellow Niagara Frontier plein air painters at work, Sandy Heath, Sherrill Primo and Carol Carreno in the distance. Sandy was safe from that dead tree trunk falling as it was firmly caught in the live tree. Several other painters were around, some in the woods and others along the stream.

It was a mix and match weather kind of day, sun and shade and a horrendous rainstorm that appeared just as we packed up. A bit of water is quite cooling after painting!

After the Beavers, 12x16 pastel 2012