The Abutments:  I was happy when my husband asked me to do a landscape watercolor for a book he’s working on.  He provided a photo of old bridge abutments, once found on the East Branch Neversink, across from the Frost Valley YMCA farm along Denning Road.  Climate change and high water has destroyed these; sadly, only rocky remnants remain.

I sat in front of this with brush in hand for three hours, as I wanted my efforts to be loose and artsy, but still recognizable.  It was completed in one sitting with a few tweaks here and there.

The Abutments (NFS):

My husband's book, The Wanderings of a Mountain Fly Fisher: Tales from a Catskill Eddy and Other Trout Waters, was published by Epigraph Books in early 2022.

Bomber & Hardy:  An underwater photo of a recent fishing outing my husband made, caught my eye, begging to be painted.  I thought the shapes and lines made an interesting composition.  These colorful trout can be a fun diversion from my typical landscapes.  He titled the watercolor “Bomber and Hardy”, which left me with questions needing answers.  I had to ask him, what’s an Ausable Bomber and why do you need so many Hardy reels?  This watercolor appeared in the September 2021 Gazette, newsletter of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild.

 Bomber & Hardy:

 

Wintoon Waters:  Wintoon Waters--- on the West Branch of the Neversink--- has a deep, rich, Catskill history, long cherished by fly fishers and other nature lovers alike.  The Stone House, which resides along Schofield Brook, serves as the final resting place of Julius Caesar, a notorious ten-and-a-half-pound brown trout skillfully removed from these gin clear, blue-ribbon trout waters on September 4^th, 1960.  These days the pocket water across from the Stone House serves as home to brook, brown and rainbow trout, as well as landlocked salmon.

Wintoon: Stone House pockets:

Biscuit Brook Weir:  The Biscuit Brook Weir is but a foggy memory to the few who knew its existence.  It’s been almost a full decade since Hurricane Irene destroyed it in 2011, and Pigeon Lodge alongside the stream dam.  There aren’t many anglers still about who can recall it, or tell stories of BIG BROWN TROUT that used to live under the wall on the left side of the Weir.  The late Chuck White, a Frost Valley YMCA employee, eyes would glow as he told of his encounters with these mammoth brown trout.  

So, if you ever going searching for this structure, it’s not to be found except in the image of this watercolor below.  This watercolor appeared in the July 2021 Gazette, newsletter of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild.

Biscuit Brook Weir (NFS):

Woodchuck Lodge:  The watercolor below was donated to a John Burroughs Woodchuck Lodge fund-raising online auction.  John Burroughs was an American naturalist and author of many fascinating essays about the mountains he wandered, a Catskill hero of ours.

One of Burroughs' favorite trout streams was the Rondout Creek.  In his essay, "A Bed of Boughs" the author wrote, "If I were a trout, I should ascend every stream till I found the Rondout."  He went on to write, "The finishing touch is given by the moss with which the rock is everywhere carpeted."  

The landscape below features a cane flyrod, built using a classic Catskill taper--- the Leonard 39-5, laying midstream on a moss covered rock.  It appeared in the May 2021 Gazette, newsletter of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild.

The Rock (DtC):

Canoes:  A small lightweight watercraft, usually propelled by muscle power and paddle alone.  Once the mode of water transportation for Native Americans; now-a-days perhaps the carrier of a traveler, angler, or even a romantic wanderer.  Often found bouncing along an Adirondack dock or leaning on a sandy beach as waves lap against it's hull.

The canoe:

Olana State Historic Site:  The former estate of Frederick Church, a Hudson River School landscape artist, is one of our favorite places to hike, and wander about.  Below is a Hudson River view, as seen from the rear of the Olana historic mansion.

Olana Hudson:

Rondout Creek watercolors:  Below are two Rondout Creek watercolors featuring different, yet consecutive seasons along John Burroughs' trout stream and New York State Forest Preserve lands,  

The first is autumn at DEC's Middle Field.  

Middle Field:

The next features a winter scene upstream of Morrell Field.

Morrell Winter:

Esopus Creek watercolor's:  Below are two Esopus Creek watercolor landscapes that were recently painted again, per request.

The first is the Trestle, U&D C30, a historic railroad crossing once located only a couple hundred yards upriver of the legendary Chimney Hole on Esopus Creek.  Originally done as an oil painting, then done again as a watercolor, both times donated to Trout Unlimited as fund raisers.  Once again it was redone, upon request, and donated as a Trout Unlimited fund raiser item one more time.  Though not in use for decades, this landmark stood over the Esopus Creek for a hundred years before being completly destroyed by Hurricane Irene.  Now in its place stands the Ashokan Rail Trail footbridge.

Trestle, U&D C30 (watercolor DTC):

The Ashokan Rail Trail footbridge:

"Shandaken" below was originally painted as a 48" x 32" acrylic, placed in front of Christ's Lutheran Church in Woodstock, NY.  Shandaken is a Native American word that means "rapid water", while oddly enough the Town of Shandaken was originally a portion of Woodstock.  This Esopus Creek landscape was redone as a watercolor, upon request.

Shandaken (Sold):

Morrell:  After his Esopus, one of the first trout streams my husband frequently wandered was the upper Rondout Creek.  This little headwater brook trout stream drew the attention of such angling notables as: John Burroughs, Edward R. Hewitt, Everett E. Garrison, and Cecil E. Heacox--- all men of distinction in their chosen earthly paths.  In "A Bed of Boughs" Catskill naturalist wrote the following about his Rondout Creek, "My eyes had never before beheld such beauty in a mountain stream."  

Sadly in this 21st Century the upper Rondout is often subject to abuse and disregard by unruly summer visitors who flock to the Blue Hole, just upstream from Morrell Field and the Ulster County 42 highway bridge.  Even the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) displayed a mild level of disregard when they renamed this landmark to Trailer Field; how Catskill is that notation?

My husband and I often stop here, where little wild brook trout still make their home, while pondering John Burroughs' words above, bringing the watercolor below to life.  This watercolor appeared on the March 2021 Gazette, newsletter of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild.

Morrell Field(NFS):

 From oil to watercolors:  Below are two paintings originally done using oil, now repainted as watercolors.

The first is Mother's Pool on the Esopus Creek, a legendary place where Old Bess, a nine-and-a-half pound brown trout was caught on April 29th, 1955 by Larry Decker.

Mother's Pool (sold):

The second landscape features the Straus Barn, a former sawmill that stands along the East Branch Neversink and is reportedly the oldest continuous standing structure in the Town of Denning.  Wild Catskill brook trout are still caught in the shadows of history.

Straus Barn:

 

Esopus Creek:  Below are two landscapes of Esopus Creek waters, located upstream of New York City’s Shandaken Tunnel. 

While the first landscape entails a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) Public Fishing Rights (PFR) section, access is now limited through recent roadside posting.  2020 was clearly a year few of us will ever forget.  It featured a worldwide pandemic, a national contested election that tore America apart, and an unprecedent number of visitors to our Catskill region.  Crowds came, including some unruly and thoughtless visitors, resulting in greater usage and misuses of our lands, waters, and forests.  Newly posted signs sprung up like weeds in unkept grass. 

Sadly, the water below is no longer easily accessed, though many a fine memory of outings gone by are held in the stones that guide these waters.  Perhaps a fondest memory includes a twenty-inch wild brown that sucked in a #16 X-Caddis dry fly attached to 5X tippet. 

Posted waters (sold):

Twenty-inch-plus X-Caddis brown trout:

Shandaken is a Native American derivative of the words “land of rapid waters”.  Below is an autumn watercolor of a rapid-water landscape in Oliverea, a mountain Shandaken hamlet.

 Rapid waters (sold):

2020 Christmas card:  The following watercolor of a Frost Valley winter on Biscuit Brook was undertaken for our 2020 Christmas card.  Happy Holidays!

Biscuit Brook winter: