Photos: Adventures in Art

Amy Beth Crossin has a degree in art, but hadn‘t done much with it for years. Little did she know that her hiking adventures would bring her an adventure in art, and allow her to get closer with her family at the same time.

Crossin’s adventures began this past summer as she packed up her two daughters - Emily, 7 and Erin, 5 along with her husband Dan and begin to explore her hometown for the sake of creating saleable art.

“President of the Grafton Land Trust, Michael Urban, is also the head of the ,” Crossin said. “He is a friend of mine and approached me about wanting to add art tables to the Farmer's Market. This was a great thing for me to do. It was inspirational for me to take the summer and hike with my kids and take photos and create art.”

Crossin took a variety of photos on her hiking trips and created black and white pen and ink sketches in the form of note cards and prints. She sells a package of five pen and ink note cards, one depiction of each hiking area, for $10. A pen and ink print is $25. Twenty percent of the proceeds goes back to the Grafton Land Trust.

“It was a wonderful experience to explore with the kids,” Crossin said. “I had been an avid hiker, but when you go with your kids you see the world through their eyes. It’s much slower and you really have a chance to appreciate what your hometown has to offer.”

The Crossin’s covered five trails in their treks: The Old Mill Pond, Gummere Woods, Williams Woods, Ekblaw Landing and Potter Hill Meadows.

“Potter Hill Meadows was the coolest,” Crossin said. “We were hiking along and suddenly we came upon these cows. The farmer, Jeff Backer, came and talked to us and told us all about what he was doing with organic farming. He was terrific with my girls and the Brownies I brought back at a later date.”

Turns out that Potter Hill Farm is leased to Backer by the Grafton Land Trust, making the coolest also the closest to Crossin's heart.

Crossin was thrilled with all there was to experience right in her own backyard.

“I was able to take a picture of the rope swing in the Fletcher Reserve," Crossin said. "We saw several horseback riders and I have a photo of a canoeist eating lunch in the canoe with his dog at Ekblaw Landing, and of course, the cows.”

Crossin’s work is available at Etsy, and she does intend to return to the Farmer’s Market this coming summer.

“I also have started to create jewelry from watercolors,” Crossin said. “I am going to turn watercolors into pendants. I hope to have these available for the fall fair and girl's night out.”

When Crossin left her career in non-profit to come home to raise her family, she did not intend to return to the workforce as an artist, but thanks to the Grafton Land Trust, and the Grafton Farmer’s Market, that is exactly what she has done.

“I have a bachelor’s in fine arts, and I had a career in non-profits,” Crossin said. “Art was always more of a hobby, but when you add a family, things change. I love that I am now home, and I still get to give back.”