Daffodils by the Lake

 Recently the Patchogue Sketch Club was supposed to meet at the library to sketch things that fit the theme of the night. However the weather was so beautiful outside that we changed gears and went out to sketch the daffodils in bloom by the lake in Patchogue. Volunteers make sure this lovely patch is always in bloom at this time of year. It was a wise decision to go outdoors! We sketched until it started getting too dark.

Flowers X 3

 Flowers have been front and center lately. These are the tulips my husband bought me for Easter.

I looked for some daffodils outdoors and found these in Sayville.

The tulips made another appearance as a continuous line sketch...hard to do with so many overlapping leaves and flowers.

Daffs at the Arboretum

 We had some damp, very windy days so my mobile studio came in handy. I was hoping that some of the trees would be in bloom at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in locations where I could see them from the parking lot, but that didn't happen. I could see large areas of blooming daffodils, so I settled for that. Right before I pulled into a space a man had been over by the flowers. He came back to his car with a fistful of daffodils that he handed to his girlfriend/wife and they drove away. Although it is called a "cutting" arboretum picking the flowers is not allowed!

New York Botanical Gardens - Part 1

 Last weekend my friend, Susan and I decided to go to the New York Botanical Gardens. We are sharing a "senior dual membership" and as long as you visit twice, you come out ahead. The NYC Urban Sketchers were going to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens but from experience we know that gets much too crowded on weekends when the cherry trees are in bloom. The gardens in the Bronx are much larger so the crowds are spread out much more.

Another friend of ours who we haven't seen in a long time (probably before Covid) was going to be there in the morning because her son takes a nature class there on Saturdays. Elaine dropped him off for the class, and we all sketched by the Conservatory until she had to pick him up. It was great to catch up with her after such a long time.

Elaine and Isaac left about noon and Susan and I hopped on the tram to go to paint the cherry trees at the top of daffodil hill. The sign there says there are 1 million tulips planted on the hill. I haven't counted them but from my estimates the sign must be right. Here is a photo of just part of daffodil hill. Now imagine that view in multiple directions!

I sat at the bottom of the hill and painted the view above.

As you can see I was concentrating more on the trees than the daffs...and I didn't stop.

I will post more tomorrow.

Signs of Spring

 Spring has finally arrived on Long Island. Right now the daffodils and the forsythia are in full bloom. I went into Sayville last week and sketched a few spots where the blooms were.

Daffodil Path

I love seeing all the flowers that are in bloom. The daffodils seem to be everywhere right now.  

Daffodils at the Arboretum

The other day we had weather that was mild enough that I ventured out of my mobile studio to sketch at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum. I knew the daffodils were in bloom there so I headed over. I did need my jacket, scarf, hat, and gloves but it was so great to be out sketching! First I sketched the view across the great lawn.

Then I focused on doing daffodils that were closer to me.

Here's how the whole page looks.

 

Daffs from the Memorial Garden

 The forecast the other day was for temps near 70 degrees so I headed over to Smith Point Park to the ocean. There was a lot of construction going on around the pavilion area so I took a walk over to the Flight 800 Memorial Garden. Usually there are some flowers in bloom and I was hoping for tulips. I wasn't that lucky. There were a few daffodils still in bloom but they were outnumbered by blossoms that were past their prime. I sketched them anyway.

Daffodils in Bloom

 On Wednesday evening the Patchogue Sketch Club ventured outdoors to sketch together at a socially distanced event. We went to the Sayville Rotary where there were a lot of daffodils in bloom. I did a batch using watercolors and watercolor pencils. It was really nice to get out with the group again...even if we needed to be socially distant.

Spring Daffodils

The first really noticeable sign of spring here have been the daffodils that are popping up everywhere. Their sunny faces always make me smile.

 

Daffs in Bloom

I found a small group of daffodils along a fence the other day. Luckily they were in a spot where I could sit socially isolated in my car and not get the attention of the homeowners. Usually there is nobody home when I park in front of people's homes, but with the virus these days there are almost always people home. The daffs were a bit of a break from the trees.

Here's another bonus cherry tree I found the other day.

Spring Blossoms

The other day I decided to so a page of some of the beautiful blooms that are coming up right now. I used a grey page in my toned Stillman & Birn sketchbook doing just a small snippet of what I saw in various local places.

Daffodils

Today was a beautiful day with sunshine and a temperature that went up to about 65 degrees. I needed to get outside since they are forecasting rain/showers for tomorrow. I headed over to the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale. When I was there the other day I saw that they had beds of daffodils that were starting to come up. They looked so pretty so I sat my chair down along the edge of the bed and painted a few.

NY Botanical Garden Part 1

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers took part in a Lilac Festival at the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Each year they have a paint out and selected artists are invited to take part in the plein air event. We are invited to come and sketch in the garden. Of course we don't get the same royal treatment as the invited artists but it is a very nice event. There are designated areas that the invited plein air painters set up and paint. The sketchers can work in those areas too or basically anywhere in the park. The park is huge and there is a tram that you can take to the different areas, but sometimes it is better to just walk and see what is in bloom. On Saturday pretty much everything was in bloom...the azaleas, the cherry trees, the dogwoods, the crabapples, some daffodils, the lilacs, the peonies, etc. Although showers were forecast in the morning we lucked out and had cloudy weather followed by some sunshine so the weather didn't impede anyone's sketching.

I was walking with another artist and we got sidetracked in the azalea garden which was what we came to first. It is a good spot because in addition to the colorful azaleas and the trees in their spring greenery, there are huge rocks to add to the sketches. This first one was done directly in watercolors and I was able to include several different colors of azaleas that were blooming. I did this on half of the page in a Strathmore sketchbook that is about 8 x 10.

Turning about 35 degrees I sat in the same spot and sketched the path going through the azalea garden. There were some wonderful yellow plants and some trees that were covered in nearly white blossoms. I always find those white blossoms a challenge. This was done below the sketch above and again directly in watercolors.

Tomorrow I will show you what I sketched in the lilac garden.

Daffs

This this was painted last week in my friend, Susan’s garden. She is so good at sharing her flowers with me.

I have been trying to post to my blog lately using my iPad rather than my computer. I will be traveling starting next week and my computer isn't coming with me. I tried a few test posts only to find out that whatever program I had that allowed me to post to blogspot.com from my iPad no longer existed and it wouldn't work. So  I researched and it seems that if I use Chrome rather than Safari to post it works. It isn't quite as easy as it was before, but at least it seems to be working. (This part I'm typing on my computer.) Maybe if I practice a few times I'll remember how to do it when I am in...

Stay tuned next week and maybe you'll find out where I am going.

NY Botanical Gardens - Part 4

I tend to paint a lot faster (and smaller pieces) than my friend, Susan. So when we go out painting together I often am finished painting before she is. Since that was the case at the NY Botanical Gardens I walked up "daffodil hill." Looking down the hill toward the field with the blooming trees was another beautiful scene. This one was done directly in watercolor in my sketchbook.

NY Botanical Gardens - Parts 2 & 3

Although I went to the NY Botanical Gardens partly to see the Chihuly glass exhibit, I was there primarily to paint. We arrived at the gardens at 9:30 and were there until nearly 5:30 so that gave me the opportunity to do several paintings. 

After doing the painting with the rocks I went over to the area that had the crabapple trees which were in bloom. It was breathtaking between the pink trees and all the daffodils that were in bloom in the field. I did a small panoramic painting so I could include a sweeping scope of the vista.

Susan and I stopped for lunch and then returned to the same area. This was done from a pathway on the other side of the field I sat in front of for the previous painting. The gardens had a program where 1 million daffodils had been planted. I didn't count them but it seemed like at least that many. lol People were taking photos in the middle of the daffodils. At one point a guide came along with a group of kids celebrating someone's birthday. Most of the kids were under 5 and it was bedlam. When they finally moved away a woman came over to me and asked how I could sit there so calmly and keep painting surrounded by all the screaming kids. I just said to her, "I was a NYC school teacher. I can ignore anything." 

Here are the rest of the photos I took of the Chihuly glass exhibit. I will photograph the ones I missed the next time I go back.

Pansies and Daffs

I don't do still life paintings very often, do I? Last week our portrait group didn't have a model so we set up a still life with items that some of the artists brought along.

Here is a link to my 7th entry in my fake journal, "Alicia's Aquarium Journal." By the time I'm finished I think I will have included every sea creature possible. lol

http://aliciasaquariumjournal.blogspot.com/2016/04/alicias-aquarium-journal-april-7.html

Arboretum Path

Yesterday I went to the Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay. It was a surprisingly warm day and I was able to sit out for a plein air painting. This is the path leading to the manor house.

The daffodils were along the path.

This is 5 x 7.

Here is the next entry in my fake journal.

April 5 - Washington, DC