Where is Stape?

Yesterday the New York Botanical Gardens hosted a pretty wonderful plein air event.
Stapleton Kearns gave me a discount code off my entry which was really nice of him.

I don't normally go alllll the way up there because it is quite a trek, and I have to pay- so I always go to Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, where I get in free with my Pratt Alumni card.

Anyhow, I went up to NYBG which is a truly fantastic place.  I haven't been in years and I forgot just how fantastic it really is.

There were three amazing Sargents in the small painting exhibition. They alone were worth going to see.

And then I walked around the entire place- which is rather large- checking out the painters and looking for Stape to say hello.

I could not find Stape. I could not find him anywhere.

Now, Stape is really, really easy to spot.  He is 1400 feet tall and paints with a huge Gloucester easel (i want one) and ginormous brushes. You can't miss him.  But somehow, I did.

I knew Stape would have chosen some insane ungodly-bright-searing-hot-no-shade place to set up camp.
And he doesn't use an umbrella.

No Stape. I called him but his phone was off or something.
It was probably rebelling due to heat-stroke.

I saw plenty of other painters, though- they all have the same umbrella as I do! It was REALLY REALLY WEIRD to be on the non-painting side of plein air gear.
It felt kind of wrong, actually.

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Stape called me a while later, after I left. As it turns out, he was at the Rose Garden.
Guess who else had been hanging around the rose garden?

ME.

And I still managed to miss Stape.

Can YOU find Stape?