Marsh View II

I am doing an exchange on Wet Canvas of ATC sized landscapes (2.5 x 3.5).
I will post the paintings after they arrive at their destinations. Some are traveling a great distance.

The first one that has been received went to my friend, Eileen Cannon,
who lives in Costa Blanca, Spain.

This is titled "Marsh View II" and was done en plein air at the Maritime Museum in Sayville. In the background you can see across the Great South Bay to Fire Island.

Farmers Market

This morning I went to the farmers market in Sayville, the town next to me.

I like sketching the tents and the produce.

Today I did a quick sketch at the Sachem Library's garden.

My friend, Susan, always tells me I can paint in her garden anytime. I didn't have a lot of time to drive anywhere today, so I took her up on her offer. This is just a small corner of her lovely grounds.

Thanks for the invitation, Susan!

Lavender By the Bay

This is the second painting I did at Lavender By the Bay yesterday.

In the background is the store that sells all things lavender.

It is so relaxing and great smelling inside.

It makes you feel like you're in France.

Lavender Field

Today the PALS Plein Air painters met at Lavender By the Bay in East Marion on the north fork of Long Island. The English lavender is in bloom right now and really looks super.

Here is the first painting I did there today.

Return to Flo's

On Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met at Flo's in Rocky Point. Flo's is a burger/clam shack that does a brisk business at this time of year. The colorful umbrellas make a colorful painting.

I resisted the food until it was time to head home, when I took some fried clams home for dinner.

Smith Point View

I spend a lot of time at the beach in the summer, and try to paint something before I go relax on the beach. This is the view from Smith Point Beach on the eastern end of Fire Island looking back toward the mainland.

Green - Wood Cemetery

I met up with the NYC Urban Sketchers at Green - Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn today.
It is a national historic landmark and is celebrating 175 years this year.
It is a beautiful place with interesting architecture, views, and celebrities who are buried there like Leonard Bernstein, "Boss" Tweed, and many others.

We met at the main gate which was very interesting. Above the gate is a huge nest of green parrots.
Apparently the original parrots escaped upon arrival at Kennedy Airport and they and their descendants have taken up residence here. I sketched part of the gate, and you can see the big nest in the center.

We moved on to sketch this large copper beech tree. When I finished I sketched several members of the group.

Here are a few photos from today.

First Matt and Carol standing, James standing, and Susan sitting.

Richard and Mark

Matt and Carol showing their work.

One of the many views.

Richard sketching.

Next some of us headed off to lunch at a local bar. Members of the group continued sketching while we were there, sketching the bar patrons inside or outside in the garden like I did.

A few of us went back to sketch at the cemetery again before heading home.

Happy Summer

The weather has been great lately so I've been at the beach quite a bit. I've been lucky enough to be close to some kids (who weren't throwing sand or screaming) and sketched them digging in the sand.

What a great way to usher in summer!

Main Street

Last week the Patchogue Sketch Club met in Patchogue on Main Street.

It is a very crowded area with a lot of cars parked and constant traffic. 

We had picked out a spot where we could see across to a restaurant on the other side, and wouldn't you know it...a big beer delivery truck pulled up into the space in front of us. He told us his delivery would take about 20 minutes, so we looked elsewhere.

We found this view on a corner.  So we tucked ourselves diagonally across the street by a construction site and figured at least this spot would stay clear when the traffic stopped for the light.

It worked and we were able to sketch Budget Buy and Sell without a problem.

Freddie

I did sneak over to the Wet Paints Studio Group's portrait session the other night.

One of our members, Freddie posed for us because the scheduled model didn't show up.

Sweet Auburn B&B

A week or so ago I took a ride out to Greenport, at the tip of the north shore of Long Island.

On the way into town I passed this B&B on the corner. I've seen it before and have always wanted to paint it, but the traffic usually makes it impossible. I was able to sit diagonally across the street from it and paint from there.

Lakeview Cemetery

The Patchougue Sketch Club met at the Lakeview Cemetery in Patchogue recently.

The lighting around 6 pm was great...nice shadows, but lots of bugs. lol

Fire Island Lighthouse

Last week I headed over to Robert Moses State Park for the first time since Hurricane Sandy. They replaced the roadway that had been washed away, but a great deal of the dunes are gone. Now instead of just seeing the top of the lighthouse you can see the entire thing from the beach, so I sat in my comfy  beach chair and painted.

Poppies in the Garden

My plein air group (PALS) met to paint at a private garden in Bellport last week.

The pink and red poppies were in bloom.

Aren't they great?

Lake View

Two weekends ago I planned on going to see a friend at a street art show in Babylon, but I never found the show location. lol I didn't want to waste the day so I rode around until I found something interesting to sketch. I'm not sure if I was in Islip or Bay Shore but I caught sight of this lake. Of course here on Long Island you usually find a view and then all you see are "no parking" signs. There were signs around the lake itself but not on the side roads so I was able to park.

Beach Life

Now that I'm home I've been spending a little time at the beach when it hasn't been raining.

There is always an endless supply of models in different positions...

or places right on the beach that would be wonderful to stay in for a while.

I used to dream about having a house on the beach, but after last year's hurricane damage

I don't want to OWN one any more...but I'll gladly come and stay. lol

This was done from Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton.

Sketching at the Highline in NYC

I'll go a bit out of sequence and post something from this weekend and then catch up with other paintings I did since I've been home from Ireland.

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers were planning to sketch at the Highline in NYC.

This is a beautiful park build above ground on an old New York Central elevated spur. But on Friday we had really heavy rain and they were forecasting that it would continue on Saturday morning. It didn't sound like a good day for sketching.

When I got up on Saturday I went out for my normal 7 am walk and realized it would probably be a nice day to go into the city to join the group.
I didn't want to fight traffic so I drove to Queens and took the subway.

Of course I sketched someone on the subway.

I met up with the group and sketched a few scenes directly in watercolors.

This I did from slightly above the restaurant where we were hanging out in the shade.

They were filming something in that same area. I don't know what they were filming but both characters had faces that were painted white with black designs.

Then I did a few sketches of buildings in the area.

Here are a few photos for those of you who have never seen the Highline.

I'm also including some photos of my fellow sketchers at work.

The park goes under some buildings.

Kids always like watching...sometimes a bit too close 

and Denise was very patient (she teaches art).

I finished the day with a sketch on the subway going back to Queens.

Kenmare and Shannon

Our next stop was Kenmare which is near Killarney National Park.

This is an area of the park called "Ladies View" and you can see the three lakes in the park from this spot. The view was just gorgeous...but the weather wasn't. I painted this from the car because it was drizzling outside. Right around this spot we drove around a curve and found the car surrounded by sheep, a sheepherder, and a sheepdog...just like in the movies! (And where was my camera?...in the back seat!) We had to wait for them to clear the road before we could drive any further.

Then we went into the town of Kenmare where we were staying.

This is a view down the main street.

We ate at the Thady Quill Pub at the Lansdown Arms Hotel 

and I sketched one of the customers reading.

The next morning we headed back to Shannon.

I had to make one stop at Bunratty Castle to sketch.

We returned our car and stayed overnight at the Park Inn Hotel at Shannon Airport.

The bar area offered some sketching opportunities.

My final sketches were done at Shannon Airport.

Here is our Aer Lingus plane waiting at the gate.

And one of the passengers waiting for our departure.

This wraps up my trip. Hope you enjoyed seeing the sketches and paintings.