Camille Gagnon Statue, Greenlawn Cemetery
Me, painting the Gagnon Statue Saturday morning
Statue in Woodland Cemetery, Keene, NH
Painting for Preservation was a fund raiser for the Sumner Knight Chapel in Keene, New Hampshire held in early June, 2009.... I thought this would be a great event to kick off my return to painting. A lot led up to this day as I refreshed my painting supplies, visited the site several times to scope out the areas that I would paint and as the time grew closer I anticipated what type of elements the weather would bring. The building is a gem but in need of many repairs. Plein Air artists would gather Saturday and Sunday to paint throughout the cemetery. Sunday afternoon the paintings would be auctioned off to raise money for the repair fund. Despite a terrible sunburn, I thoroughly enjoyed the day painting. Friends stopped by to visit and enjoy a picnic lunch and I also met many new people who seemed to be fascinated to see many artists painting in "plein air" throughout this cemetery. I also had a young artist named Caleb visit and he returned again with his sketch book and joined me for awhile...it was great to see his enthusiasm.
I was so pleased when I was contacted Sunday evening by someone who purchased the painting of the Camille Gagnon statue. I met her the day before while she was out on her run through the cemetery and we had a pleasant exchange while I was painting. I was happy that she, too, shared an equal appreciation for this statue... she stated that many feel she is the angel of the cemetery. Little did I know until half way through painting this that the person buried here was born 168 years ago on this very day: June 6, 1841!
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