Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Highland County VA Maple Sugar Festival

I spent a recent weekend with dear friends in West Virginia a couple of weeks ago. I had broken my little toe and was unable to wear regular shoes so, while my friends went hiking, I stayed at the farm and sketched. We went to the Highland County (VA) Maple Sugar Festival in Monterrey, about 12 miles from where we were staying and had a great time.The maple syrup farmers had a bad year because the winter was so mild and the maple trees need periods of freezing weather to make the sugar water flow. Some who produced 300 gallons in a normal year were able to make only 30! There was plenty for sale though, so I brought some home and have been enjoying it.

I've started a new sketchbook and I like it. It's a bit smaller than I'm used to but the paper is nice. It's a laid finish so I wasn't sure how it was going to work but the sketches above were done with water color pencils and it took the water well.

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