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Douglas David.

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s t o r y / r o b e r t k i e n e rp h o t o g r a p h s / g l e n n c a l l a h a n

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t’s 4:30 on a crisp June morning and a gaggle of determinedpainters is lugging portable French box easels, oil paints,canvases, and steaming cups of coffee through Misty Meadow’sdew-wet grass, a mile or so north of Stowe. Like soldiers recon-noitering a battlefield, each chooses a vantage point to best catchthe early morning sun. They need to be ready as the sun will sooncrest over the Worcester Range and bathe Stowe’s iconic steeple-topped Community Church in a warm, honeyed glow. It’s whatsome of them call “magic time.”

These dozen or so painters are pros. Many of them make a living sell-ing their paintings, most have won awards, and all of them are devoted tothe incredibly complex art of, as Cezanne said, not reproducing natureon canvas but “representing it.” There’s not much chitchat as they unpacktheir gear, steady their easels, and begin roughing out the first hints oftoday’s compositions onto canvasses and boards.All of these painters also have something else in common; they’ve

been coming to Stowe every June for decades. Each summer they packup their SUVs or station wagons with a month-long supply of oil paints,brushes, and canvasses and drive from Ohio, Indiana, Manhattan,Ontario, and elsewhere to spend 30 days painting in and around Stowe.Most of them were first lured to Stowe by the chance to study under

the world-renowned master painter Frank Mason, who taught his land-scape painting, or en plein air, class here every June for over 30 years.

Like Mason, they were also addicted to what he called “Vermont’sincomparable light and spectacular skies.”Even though Mason died several years ago, his class has kept the

artist’s spirit alive by coming together every June and painting in varioussites around Stowe almost daily. Instead of trying to replace Mason,they’ve adopted a novel, democratic method of critiquing one another’swork once a week at lively, often wine-fueled, professional “crits.”While there’s no designated leader among them, the memory of

Mason’s advice echoes through every crit. “Too dark!” he used to bellowat his students as he took a paint-filled sable brush to one of their offer-ings. “Light! It’s all about the light,” he’d exclaim as he slapped a brushfull of cadmium yellow paint onto a student’s painting. “NOW we’re get-ting somewhere!”They work in groups and alone. Some mornings they are up at four

o’clock to catch the fleeting sunrise. Other days they paint sunsets.Gregg Hill Road, Moss Glen Falls, Cemetery Road: these are some oftheir favorite spots and ones they return to time and time again.This morning, however, they’re busily painting under the spell of the

sun as it glints over the Worcester hills and suddenly bathes the skyline,then the church steeple, then the fields in front of them, in warmth,light—and magic.We asked several of these painters to talk about some of their favorite

Stowe paintings. Here’s what they said:

Fiona Cooper Fenwick

“I’ve painted on the 170-acre Lyon Farm onGregg Hill Road countless times becauseit’s so beautiful and it means so much tome,” says the Hinesburg-based painterFiona Cooper Fenwick. “After living inBurlington for a while I began looking for aplace to move to that was so pretty I couldmerely ‘step outside and paint.’ That’swhen I found Gregg Hill. I loved it so muchI rented a home there and stayed for nearlya decade. Mr. Lyon was always happy tolet artists set up our easels on his property.We still do. His farmhand Nelson became agood friend and made a point of telling mewhenever he let the bulls out of the field soI could paint there.”

facebook.com/fcfenwick

Jack Liberman

“I painted this sunrise over Mt. Elmore inthe 1970s from what used to be one ofour class’s most popular spots, severalmiles north of Stowe off StagecoachRoad,” says Ohio-based Jack Liberman,a longtime student of Frank Mason. “Itshows why Stowe and the surroundingarea are so popular with painters. Therearen’t many places that offer such abreathtaking combination of expansive val-leys, mountains, and powerful skies. Foran artist it’s the best of all worlds.”

jacklstudio.com

Douglas David

“I fell in love with this apple tree off Tansy HillRoad the first summer I painted it in Stowein 1997. It’s still my favorite and I alwaysreturn to it,” says Indiana-based painterDouglas David. “In fact, I make a point ofmaking it the first, and last, scene I paintwhen I come to Stowe each June. I see it asa metaphor for life; it’s never the same twoyears in a row and it gets more interestingwith age. We should all be so lucky.”

douglasdavid.com

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Jack Liberman.

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Jack Winslow

“This painting of the Stowe church fromCemetery Road is a good example of howI am always trying to translate what I see,not just copy what I see,” says Cambridgepainter Jack Winslow. “The way the lightfalls on a tree, a shadow on a rock, the

branches of a tree; these are all elementsthat I try to connect to give a painting what

Frank Mason called ‘rhythm.’ It’s asimportant, really more important, than

the subject matter, which servesas the inspiration.”

winslowartstudio.com; visionsofvermont.org

Karen Winslow

“Last summer I parked my car on GreggHill Road when I spotted this dying treethat was wrapped with a colorful vine,”says Cambridge-based painter Karen

Winslow. “I loved the way the sunlight hitthe tree and how the dying tree and the

lively vine seemed to support one another.The way the road curved away in the

background reminded me that life is a jour-ney, full of twists and turns, and we canonly guess at what’s around the bend.”

winslowartstudio.com; visionsofvermont.org

Shari Dukes

“Moss Glen Falls has long been a favoritescene for Frank Mason’s students becauseit’s so beautiful and challenging to paint,”says Stowe resident Shari Dukes. “I enjoycoming here at midday when the sun is

high and filters through the trees to light upthe brook and the falls. It’s inspirational.

Painting here never fails to remind me thatliving in Stowe is a privilege; there’s such

breathtaking beauty all around us.”

sharidukes.blogspot.com

STOWE THROUGH ARTISTS’ EYES

Corrine Russo and FionaCooper Fenwick. Artists’ tools.

©STOWE GUIDE & MAGAZINE, 2011