Week 69 + 70: Finishing up my art residency in Allegheny National Forest!

And back to Ohio!

Hello, hello, and welcome back to another update. These past two weeks have gone by in a blur — I really need a pause button on life! Let’s get right to it.

Interview with Exploration Quarterly

I’m excited and honored to share that my interview with Roseann Hanson for Exploration Quarterly Magazine is live!

Photo credit: Exploration Quarterly Magazine

I had the best time chatting with Roseann — it was like meeting an old friend. We talked about my favorite art supplies, van life, and more. Exploration Quarterly has generously shared the interview so that you can read it — go check it out! And if you enjoyed that, you can read the rest of the issue by subscribing here.

Never stop exploring!

Trail Treasures

In more big news, I finished up my artist residency at Allegheny National Forest (ANF) in northwest Pennsylvania on September 29th — I was so sad to see it end. (Catch up on part 1 and part 2 if you missed them.)

Before I left I ran around the forest taking photos of the poster that I donated to the Forest Service as part of the residency — being very careful not to drop it and damage it! :)

I was lucky enough to call this cozy cabin in the Kane Experimental Forest home for a while. Photo by J.

Here’s the painting that I donated, filled with trail treasures that I found in the forest:

Trail Treasures, watercolor on 18x24” cold press Arches paper.

I had the best time painting this — but it was also a little stressful because with every new trail treasure that I added it made me super nervous that I’d wreck the whole thing! In the end it all worked out though. Whew.

Here are some closeups so you can see it better:

A few of the trail treasures: birch, beech, oak, and maple leaves, goldenrod, asters, an acorn and a Jack-in-the-pulpit.

This was my happy painting spot in the cabin, with views of the Kane Experimental Forest. The light was so good and I loved hearing chipmunks running through the leaves.

My happy spot. Note: I tidied up the table before taking this photo! :)

Farewell — for now — ANF! I miss the forest and the whole staff already. Such a special place and I’m so honored to have called it home for a while. What a truly amazing opportunity and an experience I’ll treasure forever. Special thanks to ANF Visitor Bureau for supporting the residency program and helping to make it possible.

We’ll be back to visit this area next time we’re visiting family for sure!

Let me know if you have any questions about the artist residency and I’ll do my best to answer them. This was my fourth one, and each one was different — and I enjoyed them all.

Leaf Paintings

I also did some individual leaf paintings as warmups while I was in the forest — if you know me, you’ll know that I love painting leaves. When we lived in Austin, Texas one of the things I missed most from my time growing up in Ohio was the fall color.

I painted this leaf in the ANF and turned it into a birthday card for my Dad.

My secret to painting leaves? Add a shadow to make them pop! I like to use a mix of ultramarine blue and transparent red oxide, and I try to time it so that some of the color from the leaf will blend into the shadow.

Farewell, Pennsylvania

Before making our way back to Ohio to our parent’s houses we had to stop by some spots in the area that we wanted to go to and didn’t have time to during the residency.

Rocky Ridge Orchards

Whenever we’d leave the cabin to go into town to get groceries we’d see signs for Rocky Ridge Orchards — and I’m a bit of an apple snob — so we had to go!

I loved all of the pumpkins out front:

And the apples are the best I’ve ever had! In talking to the owner I found out that she had just picked them that morning — talk about farm fresh:

What is your favorite apple? I’d love to hear!

Stroup’s Maple Syrup

Our next stop was Stroup’s Maple Syrup, recommended by Debbie from the ANF Visitor Bureau. We found the owner working in the sugar shack, bottling up the last of the syrup. It smelled like carmel — wow! — and the bottle was still warm!

When we tried some on waffles later we think it was the best we’d ever had. So good! Highly recommend if you’re in the area.

Kinzua Bridge Skywalk

Right down the road from Stroup’s Maple Syrup is Kinzua Bridge State Park and Skywalk. It had been on my bucket list for a while — we missed peak color, but it was still darn beautiful:

Painting this scene will be so hard, but I’m going to try it someday!

Hearts Content National Recreation Area

We camped that night at Hearts Content National Recreation Area, a place I’d wanted to visit since I put in my application for the ANF residency months ago. There are 300-400 year old trees in this old growth part of the forest, including white pines and hemlocks.

The trees in the campground were younger than the ones on our hike in the old growth forest, but still pretty darn tall.

It was in the 80s outside the forest, but after entering the temperature dropped and it felt much, much cooler. The towering trees were a sight to see.

I was in awe.

It’s the closest thing to Muir Woods that I know of east of the Mississippi.

My heart rate slowed as I walked among the giants and a feeling of peace washed over me. I really needed that.

Dad’s 80th Birthday!

After leaving Hearts Content we made the 2.5 hour drive back to Ohio so that we could celebrate my Dad’s 80th birthday on October 2nd — and what a day it was!

Jason helped me hang decorations in the garage near his Harley trike the night before…

Then we woke up the next morning and I made stuffed blueberry waffles, with candles on top, and J and I sang happy birthday! Note: we discovered that the waffles melted the hot wax — oh no! Jason took one for the team and ate that waffle.

It was our first time using the Stroup’s maple syrup and it was so good!

Does anyone else remember those Corelle plates with the gold pattern? I think they’ve had them since I was a kid!

After breakfast Dad and I went out to the garage on the pretext of getting duct tape and he spotted the balloons and said “what the hell is that”! HA!

Then Dad and I took a ride out to Highlandtown Wildlife Area on the Harley — it was a beautiful fall day and we had a blast. I even spotted a bald eagle.

Later that evening we went out to eat at Mark’s Landing. What a great day!

Cake or pie -- which would you choose?

Saturday we had family gathering and celebrated again! It was so good to see everyone. I got him a cake and a pie from Das Dutch Haus bakery for the party — guess which one he had a slice of?

Yep, it was the pie! :)

That’s a wrap!

That’s it for this post! I’m writing this out on the deck at Jason’s parent’s house as the sun sets and touches the treetops with gold. My heart is full.

See you next week! — Lisa, Jason, and Walter-the-Van

Our tiny house on wheels — at J’s parent’s house.