Atop a hill on a rural residential street in the town of Jay, landscape and still-life painter Paul Osenbaugh’s studio sat hidden between a modest home, bramble and trees. Sunlight streamed into the square, wood-paneled structure from a series of windows in the ceiling. The rays of light drenched a shelf filled with locally made pottery by the door, a series of still-life paintings on the walls, and an easel at the right side of the room. A window fan buzzed in the corner, pushing waves of relief against the scorching weather.

Standing in Osenbaugh’s workspace felt akin to being in a log cabin somewhere deep in the Adirondack wilderness, yet this was only a short distance from Route 9N. Aside from the indiscriminate sound of a rowdy rooster, it was noticeably serene, a place set apart from the rush of everyday life. Osenbaugh and his wife moved into this space a few years ago. They built it, along with their home, in 2015.

Osenbaugh’s studio was one of 39 stops listed on this year’s AuSable River Valley Studio Tour. The fifth-annual weekend event was the largest in its history, nine more than last year.

The tour seeks to bring visitors into artists’ studios in Keene, Keene Valley, Upper Jay, Jay, Wilmington and AuSable Forks.

Osenbaugh doesn’t work from photographs, so he works slowly on his paintings. The changes in light pose some challenges, but he’s built a studio that allows him to have as much control of the light as he can. He has custom-cut material to block off certain windows when necessary.

This was Osenbaugh’s first year participating in the tour, and his first time opening up his studio to the public. At first, he thought it might feel intrusive.

“It’s been interesting,” he said, sitting on a stool before a painting of an expansive Adirondack landscape. He lightly pushed a brush through a splotch of jade green paint and eyed his unfinished work.

Throughout the weekend a number of strangers had stopped by, but also neighbors, who’d seen his name on a map dispersed by local businesses and decided to check out his space.

“They had never been in here,” he said. “No one has seen my paintings in probably 25 years.”

‘This is where my heart is’

Included in the list of stops on the AuSable River Valley Studio Tour were a number of venues that weren’t typical studios.

Susan Runyon, a nature photographer, set up at the Keene Valley Library. Christopher Straight, an artist that works with pen and pencils, was stationed at the Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay. Photographer Stephen Longmire displayed his work at the Tahawus Cultural Center in AuSable Forks. A number of artists were also slated to set up at the community room in the St. James Episcopal Church in AuSable Forks and the Amos and Julia Ward Theater in Jay.

Some artists are reluctant to open up their homes to the general public, according to artist Cheri Cross, one of the tour’s organizers.

Others, like Eliza Twichell, have studios in places difficult or unsafe for the public to access. Twichell’s part-time Keene Valley home lies beyond a one-lane bridge. So she decided to set up shop in the Holt House at Marcy Field in Keene with fellow painters Sid Miller and Trisha Orr. This was her third year participating in the studio tour.

“It’s fun talking to people and giving people a whole different experience,” Twichell said.

Twichell paints Adirondack landscapes on random objects. Some are tiny, rolling green hills and light blue skies painted on doll-sized dustpans or antique ladles found on eBay. Other works are the size of an average person’s forearm, brushed across square bits of wood or metal scrap.

She used to paint abstract work but switched over to landscapes last summer.

The idea of transcribing her vision onto found or recycled objects came from another artist in her other part-time home, Santa Fe.

Twichell remembers going to view an exhibit there a few years ago and seeing the work of an artist that painted religious figures on cat food cans.

“I like the idea of repurposing things,” she said. “I wanted to do things for people who love it here to take home.”

Although she only lives here a few months out of the year, Twichell said she loves the Adirondacks. She has fond memories of coming here as a kid in the summertime. That’s why her paintings are almost entirely of landscapes in the town of Keene.

“This is where my heart is,” she said.

In a room down the hall from Twichell’s exhibit, artist Trisha Orr spoke animatedly to people roaming in and out of the Holt House. When the lights flickered off, the quiet whir of a small fan disappeared, yet the two women kept talking.

Orr’s work is diverse. Some pieces in the exhibit were abstract, and others were complicated still-lifes. Some of the more striking pieces were two large oil paintings depicting people working and shopping in supermarkets.

Orr said she was attracted to the idea of painting people because supermarkets are so visually diverse – and because to her they represent a sort of chaotic abundance.

“We live in a land of plenty,” she said. “I love (supermarkets), and I love the way people wander around them in their own meditations or on their own quests.”

Like Twichell, Orr is also a part-time resident of Keene. The rest of the year, she lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Orr said participating in the studio tour was a great way to meet her neighbors.

“For me, it’s a way of being a part of a wonderful community full of wonderful people,” she said.

Brochures with information on the 39 AuSable Valley artists are still available at the Jay Craft Center.