The overcast skies and cool temps provided the perfect painting weather.

I found a great spot to view the log cabin built by the CCC in the 1930s that is now used as a boat rental. Note the nearby grill that made a handy sign holder.

Our location close to the campground encouraged campers to stop by and check out the program and painting progress.

I was happy to include the pretty waterlilies in my painting this time and channel Monet!

After making good progress on my park painting, it was time to move on to the wonderful porch overlooking the swimming beach with plenty of tables and shade from colorful umbrellas.

The tables provided an intimate setting to work on art.

When we ran out of tables, eager artists sat on the floor. Now that’s dedication!

An artist focused on her work.

We gathered together all the paintings by one family over the course of the afternoon. They remarked about how relaxing it was.

I had a chance to keep working on my little log cabin from a different angle late in the afternoon.

Our visit to the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial right across the road from the state park to a flock of heritage sheep and a picturesque worm fence.

A bronze-cast sill and hearthstones symbolize a cabin that the Lincolns began building in 1829.

The park offers a living historical farm with a replica of what the Lincoln family cabin and farmstead may have looked like.

Lincoln’s mother Nancy Hanks Lincoln is buried on the grounds of the national park.

In July Paints in the Parks made the long car trip to Lincoln State Park in the southernmost part of Indiana where young Abe Lincoln spent part of his youth. Established in 1932 as a memorial to the 16th president’s mother, the 2,026 acres of this state park are also home to Lincoln’s sister Sarah’s gravesite, the Lincoln amphitheater, and a bicentennial plaza with markers illustrating various milestones of Abe’s life in Indiana.

I set up my easel for the morning at the edge of Lake Lincoln to paint the log cabin boat rental that was formerly a ranger cabin built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, who also planted most of the trees and created many trails in the park during the Great Depression. My location was near the extensive electric campground, so I received plenty of visitors while I painted the cabin and blooming waterlilies with my water-mixable oils.

After a busy morning and a good start on the painting, I spent the rest of a beautiful summer day at the park’s new porch overlooking the park’s swimming beach, where I offered my hands-on painting activity to swimmers and picnickers on their way to the beach, the restrooms or the convenient camp store inside the beach house. All afternoon, fellow artists grabbed their paints and water brushes to create artwork under the shade of table umbrellas placed around the deck with a cool breeze and a great view of the beach — definitely one of the nicest settings I’ve experienced for the painting activity!

I was even able to continue work on my painting of the log cabin from a different angle on the deck and wrap up a very pleasant day at a beautiful state park that bears our 16th president’s name. During this trip, we also took advantage of a free visit to the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial across the road from the state park entrance, which includes a stunning Art Deco memorial building and visitor’s center, the living 1820s historical farm, a bronze casting of the Lincoln’s cabin and Nancy Hanks Lincoln’s gravesite.

It was truly an honor to paint and walk the grounds where Abe lived and worked from age seven to twenty-one. I highly recommend visits to both these parks–you won’t be disappointed!