Olana, home of Frederic Church
Posted: September 19, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Frederic Church, Hudson River Valley, Hudson River Valley Art Workshops, lettering, Olana, sketchbook 19 CommentsYou really do need multiple sketches to properly convey Olana, home of the Hudson River School artist Frederic Church. (I spelled his name incorrectly in my sketchbook, as I just found out!) First of all, the Persian-inspired home is on top of a hill, with views of the Hudson River Valley, the Catskills and four states, on a clear day. It’s best to walk down to a lower level on the property to capture its position on that upper ridge. But if you do that, you have your back to the Hudson, and you need to get that in there too, because the early autumn panorama from the top is quite spectacular too. Once you’ve sketched the distant views, you also need to record the details of the moorish-inspired architecture. I could have completed another spread just of arched windows, inset doors, tiled chimneys, ornate brickwork and stencilled borders but I only had room for a few on my page.
This sketch may not look great if you are looking at it on a phone because I used a double-page spread in my sketchbook, so the final size is quite large: 22″ x 8″. But the location was so grand that I needed a lot of room to really tell the story of the place, and for that I needed both sides of the book.
My students also did some amazing work at Olana. It’s a very welcoming place for artists, as you might imagine. I’ll be teaching again at Hudson Valley Art Workshops next August. If you want to join the group, I’m pretty sure we’ll go back to Olana. We had a really wonderful week with Kim and her team at Greenville Arms, and registration is already open here.
Beautifully presented – I am glad you could show both views along with some detail. Gorgeous structure and colour 🙂
Chris, thank you so much.
What a perfect location and beautiful sketches to match!
Tony, thanks!
It’s a fabulous spread Shari!
Thanks Ginie!
Wow! What a great spread Shari. I love the overall impression and the pull out details are super special. Would love to visit that church!
Amy, it’s definitely worth a visit!!
This is a beautiful spread and really captures the views. I’m impressed that you were able to do so much. The architecture is so detailed — I find it takes a while to figure it out. I’m glad you had a lovely day there so that you had some shadows and early fall color for your sketch.
Jean, we had the perfect day there. The architecture is incredibly detailed, which is why we drew the whole building from quite far away!!
I like the compositon of your page with the inset of the water view, Olana on the hill, and some closer details. Well done, Shari!
What an inspiring post-both words and pictures! I actually almost joined you at this workshop, but we were in Bar Harbor. Good to know that I’ll have another chance next year🤞
Denise, I’m so glad you made it to Bar Harbor! I hope you sketched there!!
Thanks Joan.
Great layout, Shari
Thanks Pat!
The landscape is truly inspirational.
Maureen, thanks so much.
Olana is one of my favorite places! You painted it so beautifully. The eclectic architecture and decor bring in many styles including Islamic, Victorian, Roman, Spanish. – which make this place so interesting and special. A wonderful place to visit, especially for fans of Church.