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    All images are Copyright Protected and the property of Jamie Williams Grossman. Paintings and photos displayed on this site may not be reprinted, copied, downloaded, displayed elsewhere, or used for any reason without her written permission.

    ------------------------------------- CUSTOMER REVIEWS

    "OMGGGGG, Jamie!!!! It's absolutely amazinggggggg!!!!!! I loveeeeee it!!!!!! This is sooo much more than I could have imagined!!! Thank you!!!!"

    "It's spectacular, Jamie!!! How talented you are! We absolutely love it! And you are right-the frame is just perfect for it! "

    "Happy" with it is an understatement! My sister's husband said, "Wow, it's beautiful!" That's a lot of emotion coming from him! haha. And my adult daughter said, "OMG MOM, ITS GORGEOUS!". You have added to your fan club!

    "Jamie, your painting arrived in perfect condition! And, as I expected, it looks even better ‘in person’ than on the computer screen. Thank you so much for your careful packing and wonderful painting."

    "...Today I finally surprised [my wife] with the actual painting! It is her birthday! And I just wanted to let you know the we both absolutely love it!! She was so so surprised, and just speechless.... Thank you again for being so flexible and good to work with! It was such a joy preparing for today and I appreciated your professionalism throughout the process!"

    "I love the new painting! It's actually a little more golden and fluid than it looks in the pic and I love the movement; everything in my house is a little on the warm and yellow and gold side so it could hang pretty much anywhere. It's going to the framer shortly and I look forward to having it up :-)"

    "Jamie, it's lovely!!! Thank you so much for all the time and love you've put into it! You have no idea how much joy your work is bringing to me. I'm very grateful!"

    "I just wanted to share that my father-in-law absolutely LOVES your painting. He loves the frame and said that he's never owned a real oil painting. ???? But most importantly, he loves the subject matter and he and my husband spent a lot of time reminiscing this morning about hikes they took there years ago. This part of the Hudson is, by far, their favorite! Thank you SO much for making this Christmas gift PERFECT."

    "Your paintings of my beloved Hudson Valley are stunning! I've always loved Hudson River paintings, and can't believe that I've found someone who is following in the great tradition of Cropsey and company! "

    "We received your painting yesterday and it's really very beautiful. Thank you again very much."

    "Your beautiful "Autumn at Rockwood" arrived in perfect condition two days ago. It is even more lovely in person than I ever could have imagined. Thank you so much for your artistry and your many kindnesses to me..... I will treasure both of my paintings very much ..."

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    "Your [miniature] Caillebotte arrived today. Wow, it's WAY better seeing it in person than viewing an image/photo of it. Spectacular..... Thank you so much!!"

    "It's beautiful. Thank you so much!"

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    "Hi Jamie, I received painting yesterday. It's really beautiful! Thank you for sending so quickly. I'm sure it will give my friend hope and strengthen as she faces this battle with Parkinson's. Thank you!"

    "Jamie, My painting arrived Thursday and I love it. I will definitely order from you again."

    "[They] love the painting. They were so surprised. They really appreciate it and the thought and artistry behind it. They received many [wedding] gifts, and said this was one of their two favorites."

    "[My husband] loved loved loved the painting! It is hanging on the wall in my great room. It's just beautiful!"

    "Hi Jamie! The beautiful paintings arrived safe and sound this afternoon. I love them! (Boy you don't mess around with packing them ;) Thank you."

    "Hi Jamie –I thought you’d enjoy seeing “The Red Barge” framed. Until I give it to my husband on his birthday, I have it hanging in my office. I LOVE looking at it all day!"

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    "Just a quick note to let you know your [miniature] Monet arrived in perfect condition. It looks fabulous!!! Thank you again so much."




    ------------------------------------------ If you haven't seen the two-DVD set, "The Impressionists", you don't know what you're missing!

    the-impressionists.jpg


    I rented it from Netflix and absolutely loved it. It is an enactment of the lives of Monet, Renoir, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, and other Impressionist painters living at that time around Paris. Fascinating and eye-opening!





On the first day of our trip, we visited the home of Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole. The house was part of a 100+ acre fruit farm during his lifetime, owned by his wife’s family. She had to sell off most of their possessions after he passed away, so there are a lot of reproduction and period pieces in the house, but few that were actually there when Thomas Cole lived in the home.

tc1house400

Here is a picture I took of the famous view from the porch of his home. Unfortunately, it was heavily overcast that day, and the wonderful Catskill skyline that Cole had was obscured by cloud cover.

tc1view400

Adjacent to the house was a barn. Cole converted half the barn into his studio. The interior has great north light from a ground level window and one above. The walls inside it are brick and wood, so even with the cool north light, it has a warm, cozy feel. Many of his things were still there in the studio.

tc1studio400

Between the house and barn is an outhouse. You wouldn’t think it would warrant a picture, but I took one because it has the distinction of having three seats. Why, I can’t imagine.

tc1outhouse400

I didn’t get a chance to paint there, but they have a fabulous, small exhibit now of his plein air works in the house. Back then, the Hudson River School painters would go out into the field and do these small works to use as references for their huge paintings. One thing that struck me about the small paintings done as “field studies” is the large amount of detail incorporated into the work. I suppose that because they didn’t have small cameras to bring along, the relied only on these studies to produce their large paintings, and needed to include as much information as possible to bring back to the studio with them. They were certainly stunning, complete works in small formats. Here is an example:

cole11

Starting at Thomas Cole’s house was a wonderful start to our trip. It set the stage for all the locations to come. I felt inspired, setting out to visit the spots where he had painted. Having seen the exhibit of his reference paintings for the studio works, I decided that I would keep whatever paintings I did on this trip, and use them as my own references, alongside photos I took, to do studio and commission paintings.

3 Responses to “Cedar Grove, Home of Thomas Cole”

Hello, my name is Haley Schneider. I’m one of the five member’s of the Cole family that is still alive today. I’m 16 and Thomas’s, 5th great-granddaughter! Thank you for visiting our house! Please come again! 🙂
-Haley Schneider

Haley, what an honor to have you stop in here and comment. Thank you! My husband and I just purchased a home down the road from Thomas Cole’s house, so I indeed will visit again!

Hi Jamie! I’m an intern at Cedar Grove and came across your blog in a search for news articles on Thomas Cole and his property. I’m glad you enjoyed your visit and your pictures turned out beautifully! Thanks for the great write-up and we hope to see you here again soon.

Something to say?