Some people show their love of the Adirondacks through marathon outings. Saratoga artist Takeyce Walter will demonstrate her love for the region with an artistic marathon.

Next month, as part of Walter’s annual Creative February project, the award-winning artist will paint a different Adirondack scene every day. All the places she’ll depict have been protected by the Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, of which Walter is a board member.

Walter will paint some scenes while in the Adirondacks and others in her studio, depicting a different season each week during February. One of the first places she’ll paint is the Santanoni Preserve, the 12,500-acre parcel that was also the Conservancy’s first-ever land protection project in the Adirondacks. Acquired in 1971 and donated to the state a year later, that project provided a kind of blueprint for conservation in the Adirondacks; the Conservancy has protected nearly 600,000 acres across the Park since then.

Other places Walter plans to depict include OK Slip Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the Adirondacks; Everton Falls, part of a nature preserve operated by the Conservancy that is open to the public; and Mt. Marcy, the state’s tallest peak, where the Conservancy helped launch a program in the 1980s to discourage hikers from walking on the fragile alpine plants on its summit.

Walter will share her work daily on her website, takeyceart.com, and on her Instagram account, @takeycewalter, using the hashtag #CreativeAdirondacks. In addition, she’ll show the art in a pair of gallery shows: One at the Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs during April and May, and the other during June at Keene Arts in Keene. The exhibition in the Adirondacks will also feature the curated work of other artists.

In addition, Walter will participate in live chats on social media during February, during which artists and others curious about the project can discuss her work.

Walter launched the Creative February project in 2014, aiming to invigorate her own creative process by producing a new piece of art every day. In subsequent years, she has invited others to participate with her and share their works on social media; artists from around the country, and world, have joined in.

Originally from Jamaica, Walter moved upstate in 2003 and visited the Adirondacks for the first time shortly after. “I’m just in awe of this landscape that’s been around for millennia,” she said in an announcement sent to the press. “I paint it because I want to share that reverence with people. I want people to realize: We’re the stewards of this. We need to take care of it. And we need to have our children and their children be able to come and experience this.”

To follow the project follow Walter on Instagram @takeycewalter or on her website takeyceart.com.

Illustration: Takeyce Walter’s Snow Covered Stream (6×10, pastel), painted February 2, 2020.