Lake George Village has been quiet this week. The Winter Carnival, with its buzz of snowmobiles zipping across the lake and whomp-whomp-whomp of helicopter blades circling overhead, has packed up for the year. The bagpipes and fiddles of Sham “Rock” the Block are still a week away. Back-to-back nor’easters have muffled other sounds with an insulating blanket of snow. At the Lake George Examiner, we used this quiet time to hone our creative skills at the Paint n’ Sip held yesterday at the Lake George Beach Club.
Unless you live the life of Adirondack hermit Noah Rondeau, you’ve heard of paint and sip. Paint and sip parties, a combination of art lessons and adult beverages, have become wildly popular over the past several years. With a few sips of wine, one with absolutely no skill or talent can dip a brush into a glob of acrylic paint and become Rembrandt, Monet or Picasso.
Clifton Park Artist Erin Gregory led this Saturday’s affair. Gregory specializes in pencil sketching but has recently begun leading paint and sip parties. She says coming up to Lake George to paint Adirondack themes is a natural for her. She grew up on Assembly Point. This weekend, the focus painting was a black bear, with her cub, in a lonesome forest of tall pines under the aurora borealis. Earlier this winter, Gregory led a class at the Beach Club in painting a moose backed by a lake, mountains and a brilliant sunset.
Nearly two dozen soon-to-be artists gathered in the Lake George Beach Club’s Adirondack Room. The newly renovated space overlooks Lake George, and the room has a golden glow with wood floors, naturally stained wainscoting and a cheerful fire burning in the stone fireplace. Carol Sullivan and Theresa Case, both of Lake George, said they bought tickets because it was “something fun to do on a Saturday.” Rocky Fittizzi and Sue Kenney drove up from Albany to paint. Fittizzi, a friend of Lake George Beach Club Manager José Filomeno, says one reason they decided to attend is that they are “fans of the northern lights.” They thought it would be a chance to spend “nice, quality time together,” Kenney added.
The dining room tables were arranged in classroom-style rows and draped with protective plastic coverings. Each place was set with a tabletop easel, a blank canvas, a palette of paint, assorted brushes and aprons. Gregory led the party with step-by-step directions from painting the background to the fine details of a star-lit sky. She and her assistant circled the room to help participants adjust their renderings of bears that, for many, looked more like camels or porcupines on the first try.
The $35 ticket price included all materials and a choice of house wine or draft beer. Filomeno says he plans to bring more Saturday Paint n’ Sips to the Beach Club between now and Memorial Day Weekend.
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While the Village may have been quiet with the week’s snow storms, the hospitality community was busy this weekend with ski groups, teams and more. The weekend also kicked off the Thurman Maple Farm Days for this weekend and the next two weekends promoting the visitation to the entire region.