A Day Trip to Frederic Church's Olana

I lead a very quiet life. My natural inclination is to be at my own home for much of my time. I do get a ton of enjoyment from visiting new places; I just sometimes have to remind myself to make the time to do that, that I never regret having gone.

Recently I went with my daughter on a day trip to Hudson, New York. It was a long and busy day. It was sweaty hot. And it was really great!

We spent part of our day visiting Olana State Historic Site. Some very brief tidbits for context:

• The site is set in the Catskill Mountains region and was home to Hudson River School painter Frederic Church.
• The Hudson River School was the first native school of painting in the United States. It consisted of a group of American landscape painters who primarily worked between 1825 and 1870.
• Church was considered the most successful painter of the school, at one time described by his teacher Thomas Cole as having “the finest eye for drawing in the world.”
  Heart of the Andes, Frederic Church, 1859. "The most popular display of a single artwork in the Civil War era." Public domain.
• Church collaborated on the construction of his estate, which encompassed two hundred fifty acres of landscape, five miles of carriage roads, and his Persian-, Victorian-, Moorish-inspired "castle" called Olana.
• The family moved in to Olana in 1872.

Day trips touring historic sites like this one are inspiring. They stimulate my imagination and deepen my connection with the past, helping me understand more about our world through those who have gone before.

I enjoy studying the intricacies of the buildings, imagining the original spaces and their intended uses, trying to picture the early occupants coming and going about their days.

The panoramic views from this hilltop property in Upstate New York are stunning. I wasn't left wondering what drew Church to the area and what influence those views had on his paintings.

What I loved the absolute most as I walked through Church's home were the windows. The docent for our tour explained Church's intentional placement of every window, each positioned to showcase and accentuate the vistas in the distance.

No matter someone's position inside the home, the landscaped views were the highlight.

Church didn't have his windows encased in the traditional frames and sills we're accustomed to today. Instead, he had the glass borders and supporting walls each uniquely designed, carved, painted, stenciled in ways representative of artwork frames.

This large window located in Church's studio was my particular favorite. For the border, Church used amber-tinted glass with black floral stenciling.

I think this was the only window that had a shade pulled over it. Even with the slightly filtered view, the awestruck beauty was captivating. I felt like I was looking through a portal into a world I hadn't bothered to notice before.

This view and its framing truly looked like the finest, most perfect painting. The two couldn't have been better paired. Prior to seeing this, I don't think I'd ever gazed at and through a window and seen a combination that looked like a painter's work.

"I make a study from my studio window of a sunset or twilight nearly every day." —Frederic Church to fellow artist Martin Johnson Heade

Can you imagine having this in your visual field every day? Having this be the muse that inspires your day's creativity?

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