Reflections

 Happy New Year! Hopefully 2022 will be better than this past year for many of us. Jerry and I have been lucky to have been healthy and able to enjoy our days and each other. I appreciate the support of my friends here who make sharing my art such a fun thing to do. So thank you for being here!

I haven't been able to travel this year. In fact I didn't leave the state of NY until this week to visit my sister, Mickey in NJ. I hadn't seen her since Covid hit. Luckily with family and good friends we can pick up from wherever we were before being separated.

I am happy to say that I was able to keep up with my sketching routine both indoors and out. Even with the Covid restriction I was able to get into my "mobile studio" and travel locally to sketch since I could be isolated in the car. The trees were beautiful when they started to bloom.

I belong to several art groups. The Patchogue Sketch Club did a lot of virtual meetings and sketched still life setups and sketched from artwork before we were able to get out again. When the weather got too cold for outdoor sketching we met at the library following their Covid protocols and were masked when we worked on projects, like the doll sketches.

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Covid was a bit influence again this year. Getting vaccines and booster shots meant sketching opportunities.

Since I didn't feel comfortable taking public transportation into the city to meet with the NYC Urban Sketchers on a regular basis I often did "virtual sketching" with them on Saturdays. We went to lots of interesting places and sketched some fun subjects.

But I was lucky enough to join the NYC Urban Sketchers in person a few times. My friend, Suzala loves sketching with the group. Her husband volunteered quite a few times to drive us into the city so we didn't have to worry about traveling on public transportation. It was great to be with them in person and be sketching out in the open. 

Lefty Luck kept posing on Tuesday nights on Zoom. I never knew what to expect with her.

In June I had my left hip replaced. That led to a few sketches too. Somehow I left my sketchbook behind when I was discharged, but luckily had my name and phone # inside. The hospital called and I was able to get the sketchbook back.

I took a few classes this year. One was virtual on Etchr with Ian Fennerly where we sketched a boat. The other was one of the workshops hosted by the NYC Urban Sketchers in Bryant Park with Missy Dunaway working with acrylic inks.

In July the South Bay Art Association had a plein air event in Bellport. It was a mostly rainy day and I was still recoving from my surgery, but I took part anyway. Here is one of my paintings done while I was hiding from the rain in a shelter.

My plein air group, PALS met outdoors beginning in May. I met up with them when I could like when we visited the Post Morrow Preserve. We also were able to have our holiday show and sale at the beginning of December.

I've sketched often staying isolated as much as possible. Right now the Covid numbers are up again and all of my art groups are no longer meeting in person. Hopefully that will change soon. It is so much more fun when you are out with other artists. Don't you agree?

Wishing all of you a safe, healthy, and inspiring 2022!