My friend and I went to the West Village last Saturday. Village Cigars is an iconic building which has been on Christoper Street for nearly 100 years, but has recently closed. The building is part of Greenwich Village Historic Dicstrict and has some protections. The interior of the building is being converted into a coffee shop, and I hope they are planning on keeping the outside as is.
I went over near the ferry terminals in Sayville and sat across the creek from where they depart. The South Bay Clipper was boarding passengers to make the trip across the bay to the Fire Island communities. I've only taken the ferry to Fire Island once, but it was a fun trip. These riders look like they are ready for a great day!
Our family has a tradition of having lobster to eat on the 4th of July. It is my mom's birthday. After my parents moved to Maine to live with my sister, we often went up to Maine to celebrate. Most often we bought lobsters and had a big feast. It was a good time for out of town family members to get together for a happy occasion. After she passed away the family gatherings in Maine tapered off, but most of my siblings and I still try to continue the tradition. This is one of our critters. The Maine celebrations also usually included a patriotic cake (decorated like an American flag) with strawberries and blueberries.
Last week, on a rather hot day, my friend, Suzala and I took a trip to the Vanderbilt Museum, Mansion, and Planetarium in Centerport. It was my first visit there, and I hope not my last. It was the summer estate of William K. Vanderbilt and is called Eagle's Nest. The buildings are Spanish in style.
I started sketching this view of part of the mansion and along came a photographer and a wedding party for their wedding photos. We were asked to leave for a bit while that happened, and about an hour later we returned to finish our sketches.
Last week the Patchogue Sketch Club went to The Grange in Sayville. I've sketched there so many times and I'm always looking for something a little different to sketch. Luckily Mariann was sitting across from me sketching the scene behind me. I started with her and then included the scene behind her.
Every summer my plein air group waits to hear that the lavender at Lavender By the Bay is in bloom. They have two locations...one in Calverton and one in East Marion. I like the one in East Marion better, but the one in Calverton is a lot closer so we've been going there. I did one 8 x 10 painting directly in watercolor.
There are a number of charming houses with beautiful gardens on Greene Avenue. This was done in direct watercolor.
Last weekend I went to the Islip Farmers Market. The weather wasn't the best so I parked and sat in my mobile studio to sketch. I was behind the stall for Hydro Peppers. People kept stopping by the booth and I had to know what he was selling. When I finished the sketch I walked over to the booth to check things out. He was selling hot sauce and pepper jelly. I asked how hot it was and after being warned that it was hotter than what I was used to, I sampled the hot sauce. Yikes!!! It was so hot! As much as I enjoy hot sauce it was too hot for my taste, but if you like your hot sauce very hot...this is for you!
I haven't found too many homes in the area that have fountains, but this one in Sayville is one of my favorites. One of the items on the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt recently.
Last Wednesday the sketch group was invited to a presentation by our local ambassador for Holbein and Legion Paper. He visited recently and did presentations on watercolor (which I attended) and more recently on oil paints (which I did not attend).
Jim brought along samples of their acrylic paints, an irridescent medium, several of their papers including black, gessos, and other interesting materials for us to try. At the end of the presentation he gave out the materials he brought along.
I did this little scene on yupo paper with acrylic paints. I beieve the blue was a matte acrylic. I liked how the acrylics adhere to the yupo. When I've painted with watercolors on yupo the paint floats and takes a very long time to dry.
Happy 4th of July!
The Farm on Lakeland is located on Lakeland Avenue in Sayville. The have a large assortment of plants and vegetables for sale. I always buy corn and tomatoes there when they are at their peak. I often sketch The Farm from the side around the corner so that I don't take up one of the parking spaces in front since there aren't too many of them. This was done in direct watercolor for the 30 x 30 challenge.
Recently I went into NYC to join the NYC Urban Sketchers for the day. I took the train into Penn Station and had a nice spot to sketch these ladies on the train ride in.
During the really hot days that we had last week, watermelon sure was refreshing.
This was done for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge...and then eaten almost immediately.
This was painted on one of those foggy, misty mornings down by the bay in Bayport. It was done directly with watercolor for the challenge.
This is another painting I did for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge. It is located in Sayville.
Like the painting posted yesterday, this painting was started on site but finished at home. My plein air group went to one of my favorite places, the Peconic River Herb Farm in Calverton. There are so many wonderful places on the property to use as painting locations like this one. I'm not sure what is inside that yellow door, but I thought the whole thing looked interesting. I know that to the left there is a entrance to a storage area which I've never been in (yet) where there seem to be planters and lots of hidden gems.
I'm really happy with the way this painting came out. What do you think?
My plein air painting group has been going out on Tuesday mornings since May. I painted this at the Vanderzalm Greenhouses in Bellport. I started it on site, but didn't have enough time to finish it there. We had a stretch of rainy days so I decided I should work on some of my unfinished pieces like this one while I was indoors.
I am still trying to get more direct watercolors done for the 30 x 30 challenge. I obviously won't have them done in 30 continuous days, but I'll keep doing them until I complete 30 of them. This house was in Sayville.
On Memorial Day Weekend there were "No Kings" protests all across the country against the attacks by our president on our democracy. I attended one locally in Patchogue. It was raining when I arrived there and I saw that I had a bit of a view from where I parked my car. I did a quick sketch, pulled on my rain poncho, and joined the crowd for the protest. It rained the entire time but that didn't deter the crowd.
There are some nice places on the Great South Bay in West Sayville. This is another painting for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge.
The Patchogue Sketch Club recently met at the Ronkonkoma Long Island Railroad Station. If I am going into NYC I often take the train from this station, but I don't have time to sketch there. It was nice to have the time to capture the architecture of the station.
Over Memorial Day weekend there was a carnival over in the parking lot at the South Shore Mall in Bay Shore. It wasn't a very nice day so there weren't too many people around when I stopped at the carnival early in the day. I ended up parking my "mobile studio" outside the fencing and just drawing what I saw in front of me. I sketched rides, games, amusements and all kinds of fun things.
These flowers were behind a wrought iron fence near the beach in Sayville. Doing direct watercolor I need to be more patient and wait for things to dry...something I tend not to do. lol
I've sketched at the Mexican restaurant, Viva La Vida in Oakdale several times. I like the contrasts of color in their architecture and decorative elements. This was done for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge.
I hosted the last Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt. Each hunt contains 26 items to find and sketch. The sketchers can sketch as many or as few as they want/can. It has been a long time since I have been able to finish one of the lists, but I figured if I put the last of the items into one continuous line sketch I could do it. I think there are 11 items in the sketch...all fun to do.
We had a sunny day last week and knowing what the forecast was for the weekend, I hurried down to Robert Moses Beach to paint and enjoy the sun. The dunes had nice shadows.
Recently the Patchogue Sketch Club went to the Sandspit Marina in Patchogue for our sketch night. Right off the end of the parking area is a small lighthouse that we all sketched.
It is the season for The Farm on Lakeland in Sayville to be open for business. Right now they have lots of hanging baskets and flowers in bloom. I sat along the side street to paint this for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge 2025.
I hadn't been to the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank for a while. There were some flowers in bloom. I painted them in direct watercolor for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge 2025.
The NYC Urban Sketchers met at Domino Park recently. Domino Park is located in Williamsburg along the East River. It was built on the site of the former Domino Sugar Refinery. There is a great view of several of the bridges from there.
I've sketched the entrance to Sayville Beach Park a few times. I like the stone pillar entrance.
I went down to the Bellport Dock and there was a 2nd grade school picnic going on. The kids were running around, but the parents were keeping things organzied. I liked the kids on the side playing Connect Four.
The Dublin Deck over in Patchogue has some fun things in their parking lot.
Who wouldn't like a pirate and a giant chair?
