Sunflowers

When I went to Bellport Day on Saturday I checked in with at the South Bay table and the submitted artwork. Then I went off to find something to sketch. Outside Bellport Central there was a great display of sunflowers for sale...some in containers and some in a bicycle basket. I started directly with watercolor and only had a bit of the flowers on left done when someone took them inside. I figured the ones in the bicycle basket would be next so I painted quickly. Sure enough that display disappeared too. That is one of the perils of plein air...the subjects often disappear.

 

Bellport View Looking East

 Bellport is such a great place to sketch. There are colorful buildings with awnings, window boxes with flowers, a clock and lots of trees. I return there a lot.

Main Street Sayville

I like doing these views of the local towns when I get a few of the stores next to each other. I actually sat in my car to get this view. Since it is so hot I parked and opened all the windows to catch what breeze there was. That way I don't have to worry about sitting in the direct sun. 

I'm happy to say that my painting of Bellport that I did for the SBAA Plein Air Exhibit won first prize. I got a ribbon, tickets to a show at a local theater, and a gift certificate to one of the nice restaurants in Bellport. My friend, Suzala participated in the event and won second place. Her painting is the second one down and mine is at the bottom. It is always nice to have your work recognized.

Still Life

 Here is a still life of a few of the items in the creativespark.art Scavenger Hunt...a bottle, a pitcher, a vase, a fruit and a stuffed animal.

Hokis Pokis Band

Last night the Patchogue Sketch Club was scheduled to sketch the band, Hokis Pokis at Rotary Park in Sayville. For some reason we had a very small turnout...just 4 of us and one sketcher we didn't find until the concert was over. The band was entertaining doing some acapella, some doo-wop, some disco, some Motown, etc. There were only three band members and I was able to see all of them this time.

Robinson's Pond

 My friend was still working on one of her paintings for the SBAA Plein Air Event so I went over to Robinson's Pond to keep her company. Unfortunately the pond has a lot of algae that spoils the view of it. But I sat and painted a small scene while we chatted.

One of the resident swans kept swimming by so I did a small sketch of it.

All Tied Up

 There is a small dockage area in Sayville right off River Road and I love to check out the sailboats that are tied up there. Brown's River Tidal Marsh is in the background.

The Farm on Lakeland

 There is a farmstand on Lakeland Ave called "The Farm." I've sketched and painted there a few times. It gets crowded and I try to sit to the side so I'm not in the way.

Here are a few that were done previously.

Done in 2019.

Direct watercolor done in 2020.

My only front view of The Farm.

An 8 x 10 painting done for Paint the Great South Bay in 2017 and sold to the owner of the farm.

Sayville Farmers Market

 The Sayville Farmers Market is always a fun place to sketch. It has colorful tents and produce, cars and people. I don't get there very often because it is held on Saturday and many Saturdays I head into the city to sketch with the NYC Urban Sketchers.

Bellport View

 I am participating in a paint out with the South Bay Art Association. Each participating artist will be allowed to exhibit one local painting done during the plein air event. I worked on this view of Bellport over several days. I wanted the lighting to be similar so I went to paint around 10:30 each day. I'm happy with the way it came out. The last day I actually had shadows too. The work will be exhibited next Saturday, July 29 at Bellport Day.

Hunt Sketches

 I haven't been doing as many small paintings as I usually do this past week. I am taking part in the South Bay Art Association Plein Air Event. My energy level is down do to the effects of Covid, so the painting I was working on took me 3 days of short painting times. Once the light changed too much I called it a day. That painting and another will be posted soon. 

Meanwhile I did a few sketches at home for the Scavenger Hunt on creativespark.art. My fingers are still busy.

Anniversary Flowers

 For our 26th Anniversary Jerry picked out a bouquet of flowers for me. This was done in a Strathmore Tan Toned Sketchbook. I used watercolors, oil pastels, white gouache and watercolor pencils.

Sunflower Play

 A few weeks ago I stopped at Andrews Family Farm in Wading River to check out their produce. As I pulled in I noticed that one of the owners, Denise was there. I hadn't seen her since the end of the fall and it was good to catch up with her. I left with some veggies and two bouquets of sunflowers that she gave me. They made a huge arrangement and I painted a few of the flowers when I got home. The painting wasn't quite finished and the sunflowers were gone, but at last I got around to finishing the painting during one of our rainy, damp days. I played a lot with the background.

One Regular Pie, Please

 Recently we switched pizza places and are now going to La Pizzeria in Bayport. The first time I drove there I noticed that they have this huge window in front where you can see some of what is going on behind the counter. I knew at some point I was going to sketch that view. The other day I parked right in front and did exactly that. I was sketching from my parked car. I wonder if they were wondering what I was doing parked there for so long.

Marine Yard

 Down by the river in Patchogue there are a few marine yards filled with old boats, marine (dare I say it) junk, motors, etc. They aren't pretty but they are fun to sketch.

Lifeguard at the Pool

 Most of the time the pool in our development is fairly empty...and I like it when it is that way and almost a private pool for me. On this day it was windy so I didn't blame the lifeguard for sitting up on her chair with a towel across her legs. I would find being a lifeguard at our pool pretty boring...apparently she isn't too excited about what was going on. lol

Bellport House with Flag

Many of the homes here fly the American flag but especially around the 4th of July. This house in Bellport was so enticing with the strong shadow on the white building and the American flag so prominent. Now that I think of it the buildings in Bellport's Historic Village itself are white. I don't remember seeing any that are another color. The doors however do stand out!

Sitting Around

The Starbucks that used to be located in Sayville was replaced by the Coffee Bean House. I passed by recently and there were enough characters sitting around outside that I stopped for a sketch.

Last weekend when I met the sketchers in Central Park I had a few minutes to sketch my friend, Mel Barranco and another sketcher, John McArthur who has been visiting the east coast area and hails from Queensland, AU and Hong Kong. They were having a nice chat while I sketched them.

Gladiators

 Our afternoon in Central Park was really fun. One of our members found out that Gladiators NYC do bouts once a month on a hillside next to the Museum of Natural History. These poor guys were dressed in layers, padding, and armor on a VERY HOT day. The group was very welcoming and performs for the public for free. It was fun to watch them get ready in their costumes and suits of armor. The difficult thing was that it was almost impossible to catch them in battle stance. I ended up sketching them before the bouts started or after (like the guy resting against the bit tree). I did a collection of sketches of the gladiators, the troubadour, and the mc.

Belvedere Castle

 On Saturday morning the NYC Urban Sketchers met in Central Park to sketch Belvedere Castle. It is one of the most iconic features in Central Park and is located on top of a huge rock outcrop known as Vista Rock, the second highest natural point in Central Park. 

Like many of the Park structures the use and purpose of the Belvedere Castle changed over the years. In 1919 the US Weather Service converted the building into a weather station, adding windows, doors, and offices. When they moved out it fell into disrepair. In 1983 the Central Park Conservancy renovated the building and it reopened as a visitor center. It has been re-renovated several times since. Temperature, wind, and rainfall are still measured at the Belvedere, but mostly from equipment in a fenced-in area just to the south of the building. The castle itself is a big draw and the terraces are usually filled with people visiting the structure.

Most of the sketcher sat either on the lawn across from it near the turtle pond, or on benches under the trees nearby. This turned out to be a good move since it drizzled for a short time and the trees kept us shaded. In the afternoon we moved on to another location for some interesting sketching opportunities.

Sayville's Rotary Park

For the creativespark.art scavenger hunt recently there was a gazebo, street light, bench, and picnic table to find. I got them all in this sketch done of Sayville's Rotary Park. It isn't quite a gazebo, but I figured a band shell would do. 

Chicken Place Restaurant

Last week the Patchogue Sketch Club met on Main Street in Patchogue. Although we've been to Patchogue many times at the library but it has been a while since we sketched outdoors there. We all picked a location to sketch. I was attracted to the little man statue in front of the Chicken Place Restaurant. The statue reminded me of a bobble-head doll. I guess he is carrying a take-out box from the restaurant which is Peruvian. I will have to checkout the food sometime. 

 

West Sayville House with Flag

Down my the Maritime Museum in West Sayville there is a street with some cute houses. They are fun to sketch in the winter when it is snowy and right now, especially when the flags are out for the 4th of July. 

Main Street East Islip

I love looking down the main street in small towns at the storefronts, buildings, churches, cars, etc. This was done along Montauk Highway in East Islip. 

Moku Loa Paddle Tribe View

I sat in the parking lot to get this view of Moku Loa Paddle Tribe, a paddle board rental location along the Connetquot River in Oakdale. I thought I was sketching kayaks but their website says they offer paddle board lessons, tours, and social paddles. Who knew? It looks like a fun place...but I have no sense of balance. lol

 

Concert in the Park

  Sayville Common Ground Rotary Park has concerts on Wednesday nights. My sketch club met there for the first concert of the summer and some sketching. The weather forecast predicted possible storms but a fairly big crowd turned out anyway, but few of us sketchers showed. I think there were only four of us.

People get there early to gather with friends and chat, have a bite to eat, etc. I used that time to do a direct painting of a few people and a dog.

The concert itself was by "Strange Magic," a ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) tribute band. They sounded pretty good and had a lazer light show while they performed. After about 40 minutes or so you could tell that the stormy weather was coming...but we kept sketching. Finally I looked up and decided it would be best to put away my painting materials before the rain started. I was just in time! The rain started coming down lightly and one of our members headed home. The rest of us and the rest of the crowd stayed until the end. Yes, by that time I was pretty wet. I was wearing a rain jacket but water resistant and waterproof are very different. Mark, Pat and I toughed it out and had a nice time. ELO isn't one of my favorite groups, but I was surprised that they did so many songs that I knew and enjoyed. I did snap a few photos so that I could touch up the sketch at home. Once in a while when I sketch performers I show the sketch to them but I wasn't doing that in the rain, so I looked for the band and found them on Facebook. I messaged them and sent a copy of the sketch. They loved it and reposted it on their page.

Back to the Met

 With the direct watercolor challenge posts I missed posting a few other sketches. A few weeks back the weather forecast was for possible storms, so the NYC Urban Sketchers had Central Park as a destination but a backup of the Metropolitan Museum of Art if the forecast didn't improve. We ended up in the Met sketching Greek and Roman sculptures. I did one the captured a bit of the inside of the museum and the outside too. The museum rules state dry media only, but this isn't always enforced. I sketched in watercolor pencils and then used my waterbrush. The guards didn't seem to mind that, but stopped people who were using a watercolor palette.

The group broke for lunch at noon and I was regretting that we were indoors, because of course there were no storms outside. 

Luckily at lunch Marion told me about the display on the rooftop garden at the Met...so I went up to check it out. It was wonderful! The space was designed by American artist Lauren Halsey specifically for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. Apparently they select a new artist to design the garden space each year. My thanks to another sketcher, Elana Amity for safely leading me thru the museum and up to the garden on the roof. Lauren had created an exhibit that merged Egyptian architecture with a bit of Black American Life amid the backdrop of NYC skyscrapers. I was able to get some outdoor sketching done!

Here is what I sketched.

Here are a few photos of the exhibit.

Direct Watercolor #30 & Happy 4th of July

 My final watercolor for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge was done while sitting on the beach at Robert Moses State Park. I got to include a bit of water, people and umbrellas.

Wishing all of you who are celebrating our Independence Day a Happy 4th of July!

Today was always a special day in our family because it was Mom's birthday. She would have turned 104 this year. She was always happiest when she was surrounded by family, especially the kids. 

She's been gone quite a while but is truly missed!

Direct Watercolor #29

 I was down by the water in East Moriches when I noticed this house tucked down a grassy drive and some large trees. The was a perfect spot for my 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor #29.

Direct Watercolor #28

 I am coming to the end of my direct watercolors for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge. This one was painted down by the town beach in Sayville. It was a very cloudy day and on the chilly side. The lifeguard didn't have anyone to watch.

One of the items for a recent Scavenger Hunt over on creativespark.art was an airplane. We have a small airport nearby that has commercial flights and also private planes.

Direct Watercolor #27

 Last weekend I went to a classic car show in Bellport. This cute red '46 MG caught my eye and became my 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor #27