Christmas Sweets

 Here is a bit of a variety of sweets still left from Christmas...walnut crescents, chocolate chocolate chip, linzer cookie, brownie, and raspberry pinwheels.

Under the Tree

 I have a Nativity set under my tree that was used in my family when I was growing up. I remember my mom coming home after she bought it, so I couldn't have been too young. I got custody of it at some point and remember shopping with Mom one day and coming across the stable. It was a perfect addition to the scene. 

I did this on a page with a few other Christmas related sketches I did recently.

Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy Christmas surrounded by those you love and things that bring you joy.

I've been doing quite a bit of baking for the holiday. Here are a few tasty treats for you to enjoy.

Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas!!! 

I hope your day was filled with joy and that you were surrounded by those you love. 

I know there have been a lot of people affected by the winter storms passing through. I hope you are staying safe and warm wherever you are. It has been bitterly cold here in NY, but luckily we have been able to say warm. Today we spent the day with some of Jerry's family. We enjoyed seeing them and sharing stories. I hope you had a good day too!

My Christmas prep included quite a bit of food prep. My bag of Gold Medal Flour seemed to be my constant companion. Rather than look for something outdoors to sketch, I worked with what I had at hand. Here are a few of the cookies that I made...linzer cookies and rugelach.

Christmas on Main Street

Since I didn't get to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree in Sayville I headed over there the next day and sketched the tree and a bit of Main Street. 

Cookies

 Our weather has been grey and dismal for several days. I've gone out to look for inspiration for a sketch but nothing looks good in this gloomy weather. So I set up a still life with my Christmas cookies and the tin they were in. In case you are curious they are (starting in the middle) a raspberry nut pinwheel, a walnut crescent, a Linzer cookie, a Hello Dolly and a chocolate chocolate chip.

Travel Ornament - Paris

 I didn't get a chance to go out and sketch anything today. I did some cleaning and then went to visit a friend and bring some holiday treats. I did do a sketch of one of my ornaments from my travel, this time to Paris.

One Tipsy Soldier

Today I dropped off all my remaining tiles and ornaments at the Catbird Seat in Sayville. Debi, the owner has sold a lot of my tiles this year and told me to bring over any that were left. Hopefully in the crunch before Christmas more of them will sell.

I had a few errands to run but I made sure to stop and do a sketch while I was out. I had passed this nursery in Ronkonkoma the other day. I liked the two inflatable soldiers...especially the tipsy one. lol I sat in my "mobile studio" to sketch this since today was a bit on the cold side.

Mickey Mouse Ornament

Things have been busy so last night I had just enough time to sketch an ornament off my Christmas tree as my artwork for the day.

This weekend was my plein air group, PALS had our 10th Annual Art Show in Sayville. We had a really good turnout both days. Here are a few photos of the gallery, paintings, and gift items. I think all the artists involved sold merchandise and this was probably the best show we've had for sales. It is a great group and most of the artists have been part of the group since we started 10 years ago.

I sold three paintings, some alcohol ink tiles, ornaments, and cards. Here are the paintings that have new loving homes.

"Side Garden" purchased by the actual owner of the house. He remembered the day I painted it and grabbed it as soon as he saw it.

"Smooth Ride" painted on location in Venice in April.

"Rocky Coast" painted on location in Maine.

Baking Cookies

After dinner last night I started baking cookies. I had prepped the dough before dinner so it was just a mater of putting the dough on the cookie sheet (lines with my red silicone baking mat). Only a few cookies fit on the tray at a time so it took quite a while. The recipe made about 5 dozen Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies. The bad thing was I had a lot of time to spend near the cookies and ate more of them than I should.

East End Nursery

I still had some Christmas shopping to do the other day so I figured I would head east and see if I could get shopping and a sketch done on the North Fork. I was searching for a Christmas tree lot or nursery that looked a little different. Most of them I've sketched before or they just didn't catch my eye. I did some shopping and then pulled into this nursery. I couldn't find a really good spot to position my "mobile studio" so I was pretty much looking out the driver's side window for this whole sketch...not so good for my neck. lol But I liked the way the scene looked.

Somebody's Missing

Last evening the Patchogue Sketch Club met at the library. Our theme was "Winter" but most of us brought in objects that fit Christmas. We are doing an exhibit for the month of December in the showcase in the front of the library. I brought along a basket that had some figurines inside that spelled out S-N-O-W. I did the first three but didn't get around to do the fourth snowman with the letter W. Hopefully I will have time soon to get that one sketched, and when I do I will post the finished sketch.

On Tuesday we had a reception for the project we did back in May called "Close Up on Patchogue." You may remember this was the project where we divided up a larger image into 1 foot square canvases that we painted and then put it back together. One of the trustees of the village bought the cooperative work in his wife's memory. She passed away this year and had been a big force in the Patchogue arts scene. He had it permanently hung in the Patchogue Village Hall. Here are a few photos from the other night.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

Last night I did a sketch of one of my special Christmas ornaments. Many years ago I was in San Diego with my parents visiting my sister and her family for Christmas. One night we went to the Wild Animal Park with her boys. At the time she just had the two older boys. We went into one of the shops that had Christmas ornaments and I bought two angel ornaments that reminded me of them. The oldest, Mike, had blonde hair so I always think of him when I hang this ornament on the tree. My other nephew, Jeff, had dark hair so I bought a dark haired angel that always makes me think of him. Poor Ryan doesn't have an angel to remind me of him, but I have lots of memories of Christmases with all of them! My sister is gone now and each of the boys is married with beautiful families of their own. I love having ornaments that are so special.

O Christmas Tree

I decided to do something a little different for me and use a music sheet for the background of my painting. I tried printing out the music on my regular watercolor paper but it wouldn't go through the printer. I ended up using regular copy paper. I will try another like this soon but see if I can find a better paper that works.

Santa

Guess who had some Christmas shopping left to do and wanted company. My hubby always waits until right before Christmas to pick up "a few things." I told him I would go but my plan was to sketch Santa, not shop. I end up at the same mall each year, the Lake Grove Mall and I swear there is always the exact same Santa. Maybe they keep him in the back the rest of the year. Anyway, I didn't do the whole setup this year and I moved the little Christmas tree closer to his chair.

Out the Window

On Friday we had a lot of snow here in Maine. It started at about 2 and continued until the middle of the night. I went into town in the morning, stopped with Jerry for lunch, and then went back home. My sister has a lot of windows to look out and watch. I sat in the dining room and sketched the view out one of the windows.

We stopped at Joe Lane Lobsterman for our lunch. This is what I had...a very tasty lobster roll.

Christmas Characters

The last week or so has been crazy busy with Christmas things, shows, and gatherings. I haven't sketched as often as I should and the other night I just had to do a sketch. I pulled a few of my favorite Christmas characters off their spots on the bookcase and they posed for me. The mouse even sang a few toons.

Christmas Hats

Last Wednesday my sketch group met at the Patchogue-Medford Library. We were meeting to put our sketches into the display case on the first floor...and then sketching. We had a lot of sketchbooks to put in and one member brought some Christmas hats for us to wear.

Here we are in front of the showcase. I am all the way on the right.

After the showcase was done we did a little bit of sketching. I focused on the Christmas hats.

Celebrating in NYC

Last Thursday was my birthday and my husband and I spent it in NYC. We got into the city about noon. He went off to do a few things and I went off to sketch. The plan was to meet for an early dinner at this Italian restaurant, Carmines, that I love, go out for drinks, and then we had tickets to see the Broadway show, "Beautiful."

I have always loved these red ornaments that are on the street diagonally across from Radio City Music Hall. I sat on my stool and by the time I finished I was frozen.

I decided to head to St Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue to warm up. It is a beautiful church and I love to walk around there. On my way to my favorite chapel in the back of the church I passed the Nativity set. All the statues seemed like a bit much so I kept walking but when I got to the side I noticed that the camel could be done on its own. I liked that I could also incorporate some people looking at the Nativity and the lady lighting the candle.

I have to say that I turned out to be a wonderful birthday with many of the things I love, as well as the person I love.

Christmas Ornaments

This was sketched last week when my sketch group met on Wednesday night. Everyone brought in ornaments to sketch, and we sketched some of our own and some that other people brought in. I brought the tiny tree and the two ornaments under it, but my friends shared the lights and the Santa ornament.