From ‘paint out’ to gallery: Two-day event celebrates natural beauty of HCT’s Cold Brook Preserve

Artist Andrea Petitto captures the blooming coreopsis during a “paint out” at HCT’s Cold Brook Preserve. Photo by Gerry Beetham

Easels and palettes popped up like wildflowers recently at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve. En plein air artists, enthralled by the natural beauty of the Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) property, showed off their considerable talents by creating splendid paintings on the spot, working quickly to capture the moment as shadows shifted and the sun danced across the sky.

The “paint out” was part of a unique two-day celebration of the spectacular surroundings found at Cold Brook, where a recent rewilding project added a half-mile All Persons Trail and restored 44 acres of wetland and a mile of stream habitat.

Now home to all kinds of wildlife and flourishing native plants, the area has become a popular hiking and nature-watching destination. The award-winning eco-restoration project, made possible by generous HCT donors, Town of Harwich voters and dedicated partners, has produced significant ecological benefits, including increased habitat diversity, improved water quality, and enhanced stormwater absorption by the recovering wetlands.

The day after the paint out event, some of the artwork was displayed at the “Preserving our Land and Life” exhibit reception at the Addison Art Gallery in Orleans–talk about a quick turnaround!

Into plein air

Artist Andrea Petitto, who co-organized the event with Helen Addison of the Addison Gallery, was camped out near the Cold Brook trailhead, where an enormous coreopsis bloom had created a festive golden sea. Her biggest challenge was narrowing the focus of her painting down to a manageable size.

Artist Linda Beach works en plein air at HCT’s Cold Brook Preserve. Photo by Gerry Beetham

“First of all, you have to make the structure out of chaos,” she said. “Just look at those flowers — you’ve got a lot to work with here today. Way too much!”

Petitto said she liked to work en plein air during morning or afternoon hours, because the light is too flat around noon, creating less opportunity to capture nuanced shadows. We asked her about the difference between painting outside and painting in the studio.

“It’s harder, she said. “But it’s more engrossing, because you’re really in your subject matter and things are always moving. The sun goes in, the sun comes out, the sun moves. Bugs can bite you. You could be painting a boat, and somebody gets in it and sails away.”

Further along, we encountered artist Paul Schulenburg, working on a painting that featured a slice of the All Persons Trail. He likes to limit his en plein air efforts to about two hours, before light conditions can change too much. “The pesky sun keeps moving,” he said. “So, the shadows keep changing. Usually I try to block things out in the first 15 to 20 minutes to set up where I want the light and the shadows.”

For Schulenberg, the need for speed can have a benefit. “You have a certain amount of time to get something done, and that makes you focus,” he said.

From Cold Brook to the Addison Art Gallery

Artists and art-lovers at the reception for “Preserving our Land and Life,” an exhibit at the Addison Art Gallery in Orleans that celebrated the natural beauty of HCT’s Cold Brook Preserve. Photo by Gerry Beetham

Some of the Cold Brook en plein air paintings were exhibited the next evening at the Addison Gallery. The show also included studio paintings and drawings based on photographs and wildlife trail cams at the Cold Brook Preserve that have captured animals at night and in motion. The beautiful art was accompanied by sparkling conversation and great music, provided by Sarah Burrill.

We know that HCT’s partner-driven projects help preserve land that protects woods, water, wildlife and our shared quality of life. To see the Cold Brook Preserve celebrated by artists adds another lovely layer of community participation that enriches us all. Many thanks for your generous support that makes this important work possible.

And the next time you visit Cold Brook, bring along your paint set. You could be a few brush strokes away from a masterpiece!

Photo gallery: HCT volunteer photographer Gerry Beetham captured these great images of the “paint out” at the Cold Brook Preserve and the reception at the Addison Art Gallery in Orleans:

—Your tax-deductible contributions help fulfill the mission of the Harwich Conservation Trust to preserve land that protects woods, water, wildlife and our shared quality of life. And your land-saving financial support helps us preserve beautiful properties that can become stellar trail destinations. Find out how to donate by clicking here.