Waterfall Wednesday: Letchworth Middle Falls

My Labor Day weekend was full of fun art events. I attended two opening receptions for shows that I am involved in – the Member Show at the ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes in Corning during the final Friday Urban Art Crawl and the Fall juried show at Dansville ArtWorks in Dansville. Both shows feature waterfalls from my 2018 Summer Mosaic collection of 50 New York Waterfalls. Stony Brook Falls can be seen at the ARTS Council through October 12th. Middle Falls can be seen at Dansville ArtWorks through October 27.

Middle Falls is the topic for today’s Waterfall Wednesday. Middle Falls is one of the three waterfalls located in Letchworth State Park along the Genesee River near Castile, NY. The land of the park spans over 14,000 acres in Livingston and Wyoming counties.

The reference photos that I used for painting this waterfall were taken during my first visit to Letchworth State Park in the fall of 2017. It doesn’t show it in this picture, but has anyone else noticed that there seems to always be a rainbow around this waterfall? (I’ve only been there twice, but it seems like it’s also in a lot of photos I’ve seen.)

The day I visited was a beautiful day in early October but it also lined up with a holiday weekend, so there was a lot of people seeing the park. I think that may have ruined the experience a little for me. I’m not big about being in large crowds of people – especially if they’re blocking my shot. In order to get a clear shot I ended up waiting into later in the evening when the tour buses had taken off. The second time I was there early this spring, I ran into only a handful of people and it was wonderful.

Did you know that Middle Falls was the first waterfall that I painted for the Summer Mosaic project this year? It was! I can’t remember the exact reasoning at the moment now, but I painted it before I had taken most of the hiking trips that I completed for the project. This was one of the few waterfalls that I had visited prior to the start of the project.

Middle Falls is currently on display at Dansville ArtWorks in Dansville, New York (which is located about 20 miles away from Letchworth State Park south of Rochester). Like I mentioned above, I was able to attend the opening reception this past Saturday! It’s a beautiful display and many of the artists were in attendance. There were also many beautiful works by Alex Segovia on display throughout the remainder of the gallery.

The jurors’ awards were announced during the event Saturday. I wasn’t able to catch all the names of the winners but there may be an article coming up about the opening soon (I’ll be sure to share it). The artists selected for the show were: Gloria Betlem, Emily Bowers, Syrena Carver, Samantha E. Davis, Jackie Donohue, Christine Ferrigno, Kevin D. Hammon, Deborah McAfee, Jeff Miller, Alex Segovia, Laura Jaen Smith (me), Sarah B. Smith, Anthony Tremblay, and Jane Williams. The jurors were Jeff Swift and Mark Stash. There is also a People’s Choice award that will be announced at the closing of the show October 27 based on votes from those to visit the gallery and cast their votes.