Bethania 6

“Jacob Loesch House”
7.5 x 9.5" watercolor

All I can tell you, none of the other houses in the town of Bethania show exposed logs. Maybe this is why I found it the most interesting house there, and so the one I chose to paint first. The temperatures went into the 90’s that afternoon, so you can bet I was painting in the shade of a heavily leaved tree.

There is one more thing I can tell you. A story much better than I might convey about the restoration of this house can be found by clicking here.

Bethania 5

“Bethania Moravian Church 1”
7.5 x 9.5" watercolor

How could one go to Bethania, the oldest Moravian village in North Carolina, and not paint the church? Here we see the church as it appeared to me on a very hot day a little over a week ago. Perhaps the day’s heat index kept me from adding further calligraphic detail to this plein [hot] air painting. See the detail I’m referring to at “Bethania Moravian Church 2” on my Hot off the Easel blog.

Doughnut Break

“Doughnut Factory in Winston-Salem”

7 x 9.5" watercolor

I can’t remember now if this is the first painting or the sixth that I did on my trip to Bethania. No matter. What would a trip to Winston-Salem (nearest city) be without a stop at Krispy Kreme? (Actually, I made two stops. See proof of them at HOTTER than HOT).

What you see here is not my typical calligraphic kind of watercolor painting. The driver of the car parked in front returned to his car and so when I saw he was pulling away, I scrambled to get a little calligraphy into the painting. Unfortunately, the base coat was still wet. And so, I consider this a watercolor about shapes more than about calligraphy.

This is yet another painting done in the car, this time in the passenger’s seat. And wouldn’t you know, between stages of the painting, three Krispy Kreme employees came out for a smoke break (see below).

“Smoke break at Krispy Kreme”

3.5 x 3.5" watercolor

Bethania 4

“Pathway to God’s Acre”
9.5 x 7.5" watercolor

Here you see another dans la voiture watercolor painting, and this time, it was painted in the car, not because I needed a higher view of it, but because a storm broke, forcing me to dodge rain and lightening by staying in my car. Not such a bad thing, I might note. In 90º temperatures, an automobile offers one the advantage of running the air conditioner. Windshield wipers and defrost are part of the mix, but the escape from sweltering heat makes it all well worth it.

I painted this scene three times. See an oil version of this painting on my web blog, Hot off the Easel. The third version will be introduced in my weekly “Behr Path” newsletter on Monday. If you are not already a subscriber to the newsletter, I’d love for you to become one. Clicking here will lead you there.

Bethania 3

“Vista from God’s Acre”
9.5 x 7.5" watercolor

You snooze you lose.

I don’t know where this day went —lunch with a friend, then a wonderful afternoon with my favorite pillow. I really do want to post my Bethania paintings, one each day until I’ve shared them all. I was away from you all too long.

God’s Acre is within the fenced area on the left in this painting. The Bethania Moravian Church is the church you see just over the hill. God’s Acre in Moravian lingo means cemetery. You will find a much better description of the term and a little of its history in Wikipedia.

I stayed in my car for this painting. One of these days my watercolor water bucket is going to have a mishap and pour itself down the gear shaft of my car. Maybe it’s called the transmission. I’m the first to admit I don’t know cars.

“Vista from God’s Acre” required me to be as high up as I could get, and without climbing a tree, my mini-SUV took me as high as I could get. For more about painting in the car, visit my “Dans la voiture” blog entry.

Bethania 2

“Visitor Center”
7x9" watercolor

Of course the Visitor Center was my first stop upon arriving in Bethania. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Wolff-Moser House, the subject of this painting . . .

The Historic Bethania Visitor Center facilities include a relocated and restored Moravian farmstead home, the Wolff-Moser House, dating to ca. 1792, one of the earliest known surviving rural Moravian farmstead homes in North America.

When painting en plein air, I find it a real time-saver if I can find two views of things I want to paint that are in close proximity. The Visitor Center was just down the road from the second painting I did of the Mill, and so I only had to face the other direction to view it. In addition, my calligraphic watercolor style requires some drying time between the base wash and the calligraphic line treatment, so this painting was started as the wash on the Mill painting was drying.

Bethania 1

“Bethania Mill & Village Shoppes”
7x9" watercolor

This was a first for me. An anonymous benefactor actually paid my travel expenses to paint a specific geographic area. Bethania is a small community on the outskirts of Winston-Salem, NC. Incorporated in 1995, the historical town is distinguished as the second oldest Moravian settlement in North Carolina. Pennsylvania Moravians founded the community in 1759 as a missionary outreach base. I scoped out the area on Tuesday, August 4, and began a series of paintings the following day.

So today I begin posting the plein air paintings I did on my trip. The Bethania Mill is one of the first sights one sees upon entering the town. At the sight of an old seed mill, the structure has been completely renovated and turned into a shelter for several quaint retail shops, a gallery, artist’s loft, as well as West & Stem Architects, the masterminds behind the renovation. Patricia West, co-founder and co-owner of the property that houses Bethania Mill & Village Shoppes has spoken for the painting. See her car parked in a second view I captured of the Mill at my other blog, Hot Off the Easel.