A Botanical Artist in the Woods

This past summer, my family and I decided to spend Fourth of July weekend at Honnendaga Lake in the Adirondacks. The lake is remote: it takes about an hour-long drive of dirt road to get to the nearest town. There is a parking lot at the tip of the lake where you leave your car and take a boat to wherever your cabin may be. A man met us at the lot and loaded our bags onto the boat. On the trip over, he told us that people rarely rent in the area and that most people who own houses on the lake stay only for the summer. Few people today are attracted to a location so remote from a town, with no cell service or easy way to connect to society.

           

            The next day, my parents and I decided to explore and hike on the trail that goes completely around the lake without fully understanding what we were getting ourselves into. Since the lake is private and remote and newcomers are rare, the lake trail isn’t often used. We walked on a thin line of muck and often got confused if we were still following the trail.

            The trail was also different because it goes right along the lake and often through residents’ camps and front yards. We were passing in front of someone’s house when we startled the owner. She wasn’t used to people using the trail and she also wasn’t used to people who didn’t also own on the lake. Suddenly a conversation started and she was showing us around her house. Her name is Cynthia Rice and she grew up on the lake but in a different house. Her brother owns her childhood house and she lives in her own camp for as long as possible in the year as until there’s snow. She loves everything about living on the remote lake because she is a botanical artist. She created her own studio and it was filled with amazing paintings and drawings of plants, flowers, and butterflies. She’s currently the treasurer of the American Society of Botanical Artists and she’s displayed some of her work at the Adirondack Museum.

Here’s some of her work below! I found out that day that you never know what treasures you’ll find even in the most remote area of the Adirondacks.

           

 Sources

http://www.adkmuseum.org/exhibits_and_events/special_events/detail/?id=525 

https://www.asba-art.org/board-and-staff