Painting The Top of Kaaterskill Falls

This past summer I was  painting at the top of Kaaterskill Falls. This spot to me  is one of the most beautiful locations in all the Catskills Mts. Kaaterskill Falls also has a rich history.  The painters of the hudson river school loved this location and produced many paintings of  this area. Seen below is Thomas Cole’s “Top of Kaaterskill Falls” 1826:

      So I set out to follow in their footsteps and paint this magical place. My plan was to do studies of the area including a small painting outdoors , then bring it all back to the studio and do a much larger studio painting. Below is my outdoor painting:

Lauren Sansaricq, "Top of Kaaterskill Falls", 12 x 16 inches, oil on panel, 2011

….and here I am working on the larger version (30 x 40 inches)!

5 thoughts on “Painting The Top of Kaaterskill Falls

  1. Beautiful painting! It’s also nice to see how you adapted the on-site study to create the larger work. I remember floating in a quiet pool at the top of the Kaaterskill Falls about 20 years ago. Maybe you’d consider trying to find the spot under the Falls where Thomas Cole painted the work that really got his career off the ground, and paint you version of that spot. Sadly, only a copy of that work remains today. The original is “unlocated”, according to one art site.

    Here’s a webpage discussing how Cole was “discovered”:

    http://hamiltonauctiongalleries.com/Cole.htm

  2. Lauren — I’m an artist in Fine Art America (bill o’connor). recently a member submitted a great photo of Kaaterskill Falls (as I summered in the area as a child, it caught my interest). So… I checked Thomas Coles work and somehow found you … I think you are a fantastic artist — you art is truly first rate!!!!!

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