Susan Whiteman’s painting of the view seen from the roadside of state Route 86 carries the orange glow the mountains had Monday morning and the “rhythm” she saw in the trees and mountain ranges. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

SARANAC LAKE — Susan Whiteman, of Saranac Lake, spent her birthday painting in the Adirondack Plein Air Festival on Monday.

The festival, hosted by Saranac Lake ArtWorks, started Monday and will continue through Friday. Artists will set up paint stations around the region to capture their visions on canvas. On Saturday, the fruits of their labor will be for sale at a free-to-attend show in the Harrietstown Town Hall.

Whiteman said she participates in this plein air festival every year. Instead of relaxing at home for her birthday, she goes out and works.

She picked out a spot on state Route 86 on Monday, next to the Harrietstown Cemetery and overlooking the High Peaks. She didn’t paint the direct view seen while driving past, but a corner of the vista, with trees opening up in the middle and mountains in the background.

Whiteman said she picks out “passageways” like this to draw the viewer into the painting. She likes finding a new angle for a view she’s seen before and painting it for hours. When she drives past it later, “it feels like another home, because it feels so familiar,” she said.

She sees “rhythm” in everything she paints — the mountain ranges and the trees. She feels connected with them and knows they are alive. She said she tries to paint portraits of the trees.

Nothing can capture the view quite like the eye, Whiteman said, but the brush can get close. It gets closer than a picture can, she said, because what it lacks in accurate detail, it makes up for in humanity.

When she’ll be painting in her studio this winter, looking at a reference photo, she’ll remember the rhythm she saw Monday and impart that into her work. She’ll also remember the sounds — the birds, the crickets and the wind.

Whiteman got her oils out at 10:30 a.m. and spent around three hours painting. She was packing up and going to paint another scene over at Tucker Farms on Monday afternoon.

Whiteman has been painting in plein air shows here for years. She traveled up from New Jersey at first — a few years ago moved to Saranac Lake. After producing as many paintings as she can this week, Whiteman said she’ll rest up and prepare for the Tupper Lake Plein Air Festival on Sept. 22.