Baking Cookies

After dinner last night I started baking cookies. I had prepped the dough before dinner so it was just a mater of putting the dough on the cookie sheet (lines with my red silicone baking mat). Only a few cookies fit on the tray at a time so it took quite a while. The recipe made about 5 dozen Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies. The bad thing was I had a lot of time to spend near the cookies and ate more of them than I should.

East End Nursery

I still had some Christmas shopping to do the other day so I figured I would head east and see if I could get shopping and a sketch done on the North Fork. I was searching for a Christmas tree lot or nursery that looked a little different. Most of them I've sketched before or they just didn't catch my eye. I did some shopping and then pulled into this nursery. I couldn't find a really good spot to position my "mobile studio" so I was pretty much looking out the driver's side window for this whole sketch...not so good for my neck. lol But I liked the way the scene looked.

Cosmetic Sketch

Our sketch group met last night and our theme was cosmetics. It was fun to round up some fun items to put into a still life scene. The mirror made it fun.

Snowy Woods

We had a bit of snow this morning and it made things look so pretty. I didn't get out until this afternoon and I had errands to run. This was the view in front of where I parked at the post office in Holbrook.

Holiday Decoration

On Sunday I went to a fundraiser at a historic home in Bellport. The Bellport Garden Club sponsored it and decorated the house with decorations mostly using greenery. The arrangements were very well priced and sold fairly quickly so by the time I got there most of the really good arrangements were already sold. I was hoping for a wreath but ended up with a tiny potted bit of greenery and berries. That was fine because I really didn't have a lot of room for anything...and this made a nice sketch.

Essex Market - Part 2

When I did my wandering around Essex Market in the morning I found a spot I HAD to sketch...The Pickle Guys. I sat right across from them and listened to them chat with all the customers telling them the family history and the new additions, like pickled mango. I spent a lot of time on the sketch because I wanted to get both of them in as well as a customer. When I finished I walked over to show them. They loved it and asked if they could take photos of it. They thought at first that I was sitting there taking notes on what they were doing...like maybe I was from the IRS, but then they realized what I was doing. lol I sampled the pickles they were offering and I wanted the most sour one they had to have as part of my lunch. It is hard to find a really good sour pickle, but this hit the spot. They gave it to me as a freebie. I rarely eat pickles and forgot how salty (but delicious) they were. I wish I had bought a few to take home.

After lunch I headed downstairs again but this time focused on something sweet at Ample Hills Creamery. They did have a lot of people stop by while I was there, but I had already sketched in the counter and didn't want to change the sketch. I think they were the only ice cream place at the market.

I had a little bit of time before we were meeting upstairs for our show and tell, but I headed up there early. I sat at a table and did a quick sketch of this lady having a snack. I probably would have worked on this a little more if I had the time, but everyone else was coming upstairs to meet.

Trip to Essex Market - Part 1

Yesterday the NYC Urban Sketchers were meeting at Essex Market on Delancey Street in the city. Julie had organized the sketch event but couldn't be there in the morning due to work. So she asked if someone would be able to be there by 10:00 am to meet any sketchers that wanted to make sure they were in the right area. So I volunteered. I was on the 7:39 train from Ronkonkoma. With the holidays approaching there were a lot more riders on the early train. I lucked out and facing me was this young man right between the seats. Facing him was a friend of his with headphones on. They were talking most of the way in but he stayed still enough that I could sketch him...and include one headphone on his friend. lol

Essex Market has changed a lot since the last time I was there in 2014. They remodeled the whole thing. Before it was a throwback to the Lower East Side with brick walls and wood and lots of charm. Now it looks like a modernized industrial building with food and specialty shops...not much different from a lot of the specialty markets they are building now. I'm not saying it wasn't fun to sketch there...only that the old time feel was gone. 

I walked around and checked out a few spots for possible sketches. I picked this view of Davidovich Bakery for my first sketch. I had promised to be on the main floor so sketchers could find me and I posted on FB to look for me near the staircase. I had a counter in front of me to sketch on, but I had to stand to do the sketch. Later in the day they did put out high stools by that counter but I made do without one. 

Davidovich Bakery specializes in top quality artisan bagels based on old recipes passed down in the family. The shop also had delicious looking breads, pastries, and cookies. I resisted them all. I did a tall sketch because I also wanted to include some of the outside view of the brick building and the Christmas trees being sold outside.