Montpelier
Fans of mine asked me if I had ever painted James Madison's Montpelier, I had to say "no". I also realized that although I had lived in central Va for over forty years, I had never visited the second President's home just up the highway. So I went. I was pleasantly surprised by a really nice new visitors welcoming Center adjoining a good sized parking lot. The grounds were very spread out and scenic with panaromatic views of the Blue Ridge Mtns just to the west. I took in the house...named "Montpelier" and snapped some quick reference photos to paint from once I got home. The canvas I choose was a smaller one: its size is only 13" by 22" and is the traditional gessoed cotton duck. I worked on it for four days to get the result you see here. I didn't know before doing this one that the Constitution of the United States was actually written in the middle upper room just above the two yellow main doors. I am glad I took on th