Elise's Niece's Cafe

 Isn't that a catchy name for a cafe? I found a listing for this place and it sounded like it would be a good sport for sketching. The cafe and back deck are behind an antique store. Aside from beverages and some pastries there isn't much food in the cafe, but on the back deck there are tables, benches, a bar area, a performance area, and another small building the I believe is for kids. You walk down an alley to the back. The staff is very accommodating and told us we are welcome to come any time. The day we were there a duo was playing in the back. I sketched the back deck and Suzala sketched the view down the alley with me sitting at the table there.

317 Main Street

 My friend, Suzala and I were on Main Street in Farmingdale and saw 317 Main Street with the colorful orange umbrellas out front and had to stop to sketch. The restaurant was in the middle of the block and there were parking spots along both sided of the street. Luckily when we sat down to sketch the parking spot right in front of the restaurant was empty and so was the spot right in front of us on the other side. But for how long?? Suzala said just sketch fast...so I went directly in with watercolors. We painted for about 30 minutes before any cars blocked our view but eventually there was a large SUV parked right in front of the restaurant. Luckily I had mostly finished the bottom and was able to see the sign above the restaurant so I was able to continue working on the view.

Hecksher State Park View

Hecksher State Park is on the bay in Suffolk County. To me it seems like it isn't kept up well. There are areas that have beach access on the bay but there is little access to those beaches. A certain parking lot has been partly flooded for years. You have to drive through gigantic puddles to get into the parking lot. That was where this sketch was done. I used watercolors and Neocolor II for this painting. 

Fairy Model

 My sketch group had a model dressed as a fairy this week. She did an assortment of 2 and 5 minute poses for a warm up, then a 10 minute followed by 2 20 minute poses in the same position so we would have one longer pose.

This was the longest pose for a total of 40 minutes.

Garden at the Suffolk County Farm

 My plein air group met at the Suffolk County Farm recently. They did a little bit of work on the grounds since I was there last. They had little garden areas set up mostly for the kids that come there. I liked the gate and the flowers.

Fishing Pier at Captree

We had a mostly overcast day but I wanted to head over to the water. I found myself at Captree State Park which is across the Great South Bay from Fire Island. I found a small opening in the dunes where I could see the fishing pier in the background. Captree also has one of the largest fleets of charter fishing boats on Long Island.

In Pieces

The prompt for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt was "apart or in pieces." The zuccini I was planning on having with dinner worked perfectly for that prompt. 

Town Stroll

 I seem to be on a roll for forgetting to bring one or more of my needed materials. This time I forgot my paint palette. Luckily I had watercolor pencils with me so I settled for those and a bit of ink. Sketched along the street in Sayville.

Lambertville View

 Next we headed over to the other side of the bridge to Lambertville, NJ. I remember it being small with a few antique shops when we used to go there, but now it is wall to wall shops and restaurants and is a little less commercial than New Hope. After lunch we found a spot along the canal with a view of a restaurant with a number of open umbrellas and a small bridge. 

New Hope Train Station

We arrived in Bucks County where we met up with another sketching friend of Suzala's who came up from Maryland to meet us. New Hope, PA has changed a lot since I was there last. It used to be a small town with shops that sold hand-made leather items, pottery, jewelry, etc as well as some small, quaint restaurants. The number of businesses has increased tremendously. It is nearly impossible to park. It is no longer the fun town I remember. We headed over near the New Hope Train Station. I started with a sketch of the train station itself. The colorful train pulled in and out of the station about every 20 minutes to go on a scenic trip. I ended up sketching it little by little since it didn't stay for long. I finished the station on location but painted the train when I got home.

 

Rick at the Wheel

Rick is the husband of my friend, Suzala, and he is a prince. He often drives us to our sketching locations in the city and very conveniently drops us off as close to where we are meeting as possible. This time he and Suzala invited me to join them on a trip to New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ. The towns are across the river from each other. I haven't been down there in at least 25/30 years. The trip down took about 2 1/2 hrs, so I entertained myself by sketching my view of Rick from the back seat of their car. For some reason the sketching in the car seems bumpier than sketching on the train. I think the car is an up-down motion and the train is side to side. That's my theory anyway!

Open for Business

This sketch covered two promps for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt...striped and open. 

Elegant

 One of the prompts for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt recently was elegant. What can be more elegant than a wedding dress? I've sketched Sayville Bridal before and it still called to me. This is the back of the store. Some day I'll have to go around to the front and see what the display is like.

Music in Sayville

 At the Common Ground on Wednesdays there is usually music. This particular week "Drive" was playing. They are a tribute group for "The Cars." They provided musical entertainment and a good sketch opportunity.

The Hawkins House

The Hawkins House was the destination for PALS this week. To celebrate our 250th birthday it was decked out in bunting. I did a side view of the house this time. You can see my previous paintings of it   here.

Summer Treats

Summer brings all kinds of treats...strawberries, peaches, watermelon, and corn on the cob. The only thing I didn't have to sketch was a tomato. 

Car Show in the Heat

 Long Island and parts of the east coast have been suffering through some very hot, humid weather recently. Usually I join the NYC Urban Sketchers in the city on Saturday, but due to the weather I knew it would be hard to tolerate the city. On Sunday the forecast was again for hot, humid weather with temperatures in the 90s. 

Sayville was having a festival which included a car show on Sunday. Two friends and I decided to meet and sketch at the show. We aimed to be there at 10:00 when the car show officially opened and stay until we got too uncomfortable. Each of us had our own car so it wouldn't be a problem if one of us wanted to leave before the others. There was an area with quite a few Cadillacs. The one I selected was from 1937 and was a beauty.

I found a spot in the shade cast by a building and a SUV. That worked for a while but the sun was moving slowly west and I had to keep moving to stay in the shade. Luckily the humidity kept the paint from drying too quickly so I didn't get a lot of hard edges. I worked on this for about  1 1/2 hours. I packed up my materials, said goodby to Susan and Suzala and headed home to have lunch and spend the rest of the day at the pool in my development. It was a successful day.

Sunflower Bouquet

 I'm often guilty of waiting too long to sketch flower arrangements that I have at home. I knew I really needed to get these flowers done. This fit perfectly for the #3materialsdrawingchalleng since I used watercolors, Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons, and watercolor pencils.

Grape Jelly

Here is another sketch for #3materialsdrawingchallenge using Posca markers, Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons, and watercolors. 

Red and Yellow

 This is another small painting done for the #3materialsdrawingchallenge. I used Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons, watercolors and touches of ink to capture this view at The Farm, a farmstand on Lakeland Ave in Sayville.

For Sale

 This boat for sale was located in Sayville at a small marina. It looks pretty good to me.

Open to the Bay

 This was painted down near the bay in West Sayville. I like the open area that shows the Great South Bay and Fire Island.

Peach and Blues for the Challenge

I saw another art challenge that has tempted me, the #3materialsdrawingchallenge. The gist is sketching from life and trying to use 3 different materials in the one sketch. For this sketch I used watercolors, pastel pencils (don't know where or how I got them), and Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons. 

The Mill at Cedarmere

 I finished my sketch of the lilly pond at Cedarmere before my friends so I walked down the slope toward the water and did a quick sketch of the mill. This was done in the sketchbook I had bought in Venice that had the paper without the sizing. I wasn't too happy with the result...but it is what it is. 

Lilly Pond at Cedarmere

 I visited Cedarmere Park in Roslyn with two friends recently. The park is on the property of the 19th-Century poet, William Cullen Bryant. There is a restored house, a pond, a mill, a garden, and a small bridge overlooking Hempstead Harbor. The only drawback is that it is on a slope and I found it difficult to walk around parts of it if I wasn't on the paths and keep my balance. lol I focused on the lilly pond for my watercolor sketch.

Drawing Challenge

I saw something the other day about #3materialsdrawingchallenge which hopes to encourage artists to use and explore and combine some of the materials they don't normally use. I did these items for the CreativeSpark.art Scavenger Hunt. 

I used Posca markers, Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayons, and watercolors for the lemons.

Then I did a can of coffee for "something related to coffee." Again I used the watercolors, Posca markers, and Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayons.

Ambulance Lane Water Tower

The Patchogue Sketch Club met to sketch the water tower on Ambulance Lane. In orderto get the entire structure I sat far back in the parking lot across the street. We were there for about an hour or so when it started to drizzle. Everyone gathered up their work, scurried to their cars, and left. I decided to stay and finish my sketch from inside my "mobile studio." I moved the car so that I was in about the sme spot I had been sitting in earlier and finished the sketch. I was rewarded with a lovely sunset that just kept getting better.

Look at the sunset reflected in the raindrops on my windshield!

Self Portrait

 I haven't done a self portrait in a while, but it was one of the items on the last Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt. This was done fairly quickly in graphite. When I do self portraits I usually use "photo booth" on my Mac which gives me a pretty stable way of viewing myself.

Patriotic on West Ave

 I spotted this house at 35 West Ave in West Sayville. They were proudly displaying the colors with the large American flag and the red, white, and blue bunting.

Bellport Sails

During the summer when my plein air group paints by the Bellport Dock the sailboats are often out on the small beach as well as in the water. Today sailing lessons were being given but I focused on a few sailboats instead of the group getting ready to go out for their lesson. 

The Edge

 There were quite a few people at the pool and a small crowd along the edge of the pool. I had my fingers crossed that they would stay put for a while...and they did for the most part.

The Farm on Lakeland

I enjoy painting The Farm on Lakeland in Sayville. It always looks so great with all the plants outside and the wonderful veggies and treats inside. I caught some of the shoppers on Sunday morning before I did a little shopping there too. 

Bellport Day

 Bellport Day took place this past Saturday. The South Bay Art Association held a plein air paint out recently and paintings created during that event were displayed and judged during Bellport Day. I previously posted the painting I did for our exhibit. While Bellport Day was being celebrated the association invited artist to come and paint live by our booths. In addition to helping to man the booths I sketched the two artists who did the live painting. Anna Kelson and Katie Kleinpeter did a great job on their paintings...in fact Katie sold her painting of the popsicles right off her easel.

Poppa Mia's Ice House

Pappa Mia's Ice House in West Sayville always captures my attention with the cheery yellow building and the triangular flags stretching across the lot to the pole. I will have to stop and try their ices or the soft serve ice cream.

Sketchbook Cover & Tool

 The Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt that is going on now had hand, sketching/writing tool, and the cover of a sketchbook as hunt item. Many of my sketches are done in a Canson XL Watercolor Sketchbook and often drawn with one of my 3 Lamy Safari pens.

Marina View

 Along Argyle Lane in Patchogue is a small area and building for the Fire Island National Seashore Headquarters. From there you have a view of the marina for Week's Boatyard. Here is a little of the view.

Terry Street Garden

The Terry Street Garden in Patchogue was our meeting location last night for the Patchogue Sketch. It was a wonderful night to be out sketching and the plants and flowers inside didn't disappoint. 

Shep Jones Lane Field of Flowers

In the town of Stony Brook there is a preserve that is along Shep Jones Lane. It is filled with beautiful yellow flowers. My plein air group has been going there for years to paint. I haven't been there in a few years and it seems like there are a lot fewer flowers now. Before you could look out on meadows on both sides of the road and just see yellow flowers that were nearly as tall as you are. A storm last year affected the area with heavy flooding when a dam and a nearby road were washed away. I wonder if that affected it. It is still a lovely spot, although harder to reach since the other road still hasn't been repaired.

 

Beach Sketches

 I haven't been to the beach in a while to actually sit on the beach...a rare thing for me. I've been going to the pool mostly. I did go a few weeks ago with a friend to sketch. This time I headed over to Islip Beach which is on the Great South Bay. It isn't as good as being at the ocean, but it is closer and the parking is a lot easier. This lady was relaxing right in front of me. She kept moving her arms to awkward positions.

This lady was also nearby. It is fun to see where some of the body parts go in relationship to the chair parts. Sorry for the shadow on the left.

Hindu Temple

My friend found an interesting location in Melville. I met her at the BPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple. It is a beautifully designed building and so different from what we usually sketch.

I had checked their website before we went and it said they were open for the afternoon from 4-8. We wanted to see if we could sketch inside. We checked at the front desk and were asked to remove our shoes. We enterd the area of worship through the woman's entrance. A gentleman met us inside and we asked if it was possible to sketch. We were told that the this is a sacred Hindu place of worship and visitors are asked to be peaceful, pray, and meditate. He agreed that quiet sketching would meet with their values. Their leader came and prayed, as well as several other visitors.

The sanctum of the Mandir has images and statues of the diety. The statues are surrounded by pinnacles adorned with beautiful carvings and sculptures. I hadn't brought my paints inside, so I sketched in ink. I would love to have painted in watercolors to show the beautiful costume on the statue and the beautiful carved golden pinnacles. We sat and sketched for about 40 minuted until we were told that there would be about a 20 minute period when the area would be closed. A curtain was closed in front and we left the area. As we were leaving we were told that we were welcome to come back and sketch any time.  

The Groovy Smoothie

I stopped at the Sayville Farmers Market on Sunday to sketch and shop. The forecast was for rain so I sketched this view from my mobile studio. It had just started spritzing when I finished but I scooted out to get some frest veggies. About an hour later the spritzing changed to heavy rain with thunder and lighting which lasted most of the afternoon. I always feel sorry for outdoor vemdors who have to pack up quickly when rain hits. (We've experienced that a few times.) Luckily the Groovy Smoothie truck didn't have a lot to pack up and could get out of the rain fairly quickly.