Vanderzalm Greenhouse Christmas Trees

Today I was in the Bellport area doing a bit of Christmas shopping. I stopped by the Vanderzalm Greenhouses just to check if they had anything Christmasy to sketch. They did! There was a small display of Christmas trees out in front. I didn't go inside to check out what else they had. I probably should have. 

Pantaleons Farmstand

East Setauket has a nice farmstand called Pantaleons that is open pretty much year-round. Right now there are Christmas trees, wreaths, and kissing balls available for purchase.

Usk Sketchmas Day 16

 Day 16 for Usk Sketchmas was a "seasonal product." I thought Christmas trees would fit that very well, so I headed over to the Christmas tree lot by the Sayville Fire Department.

Usk Sketchmas Day 2

The day 2 prompt for Usk Sketchmas was "mode of transport." I was able to find a scene that not only was a mode of transport but was a Christmasy scene too. This was sketched at a tree lot in Oakdale. 

Oakdale Tree Lot

While passing through Oakdale the other day I came across a Christmas tree lot that I hadn't stopped at before. It was fun to sketch a few of the items there as well as the trees.

 

Pantaleons Trees

 East Setauket has a produce stand and farm called Pantaleons. Their Christmas tree area was quite busy on Sunday while I was sketching. I guess the guy was cutting off a bit of the trunk of the tree.

Andrews Family Farm

My plein air group usually goes to Andrews Family Farm in Wading River every fall to sketch the pumpkins and the autumn displays. I love going there any time of year since the owners are so nice. I knew they had their Christmas trees and wreaths out so I took a ride over. Of course it looked great! It was cold so I sat in my car to paint this direct watercolor.

 

Tree Shopping

 It is that time of year when the Christmas tree lots start appearing. Yay!! I love sketching the trees as they are being tied to the roofs of the cars or carried along by the young workers from the lot. This was a new lot to me in Oakdale.

Trees for Sale

I am always on the lookout for places that have Christmas trees that  are not places I've already sketched. This nursery in East Islip is called Father Nature and I guess I haven't gone there yet because it is along the service road of one of our highways and you have to go past it a ways heading west and then turn around and come back all that distance heading east. I laughed when I got there because it looked like these were the only Christmas trees that were left. They did have wreaths and other seasonal decorations, but their tree selection was small. This lady looked by didn't buy one. 

Trees at the Bayport Flower House

I went searching for what I figured would be the last of the Christmas tree lots I would sketch. I ended up back at the Bayport Flower House sitting in the lot to sketch the view.

Christmas Trees with Bows

Today I sketched in the parking lot of the Bayport Flower House. I've sketched there many times but I found a different spot with potted Christmas trees decorated with red bows.

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.

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.

Christmas Tree Sighting

I've been seeing signs around for Christmas trees for sale so I headed to the Patchogue Fire Department. They always have a tree lot but usually I go by on the weekend when it is too crowded in the parking lot and I have to park too far away to see from my "mobile studio." I decided to check if the trees had arrived and they were there...and the parking lot was almost empty. I was able to sit where I wanted and get a good view for the sketch...but there were no people there. Maybe it is only open to shoppers on the weekend.

Christmas Trees

I keep searching for an outdoor Christmas tree setup that is different but they are all so similar. This was the display of the trees being sold by the Medford Fire Department in the small park across from their station. I was there when it was closed. Maybe it would have more atmosphere at night. I don't know if I would have time to get back there, but a nocturne would be fun. I used the Zebra Fine Line Brush Pen to sketch this. My friend, Mel, asked how I liked the pen. It has a nice stiff point and makes thin lines easily as well as thicker lines with pressure. It is waterproof which is a plus and it seems to dry quickly. I think we got received one of these pens in our swag bag in Porto because I already had one. I was asked to test a few Zebra items and see how they work in my sketching/plein air activities and send my thoughts back to the company. So far I like this one. I will be interested in seeing how it wears over time. I usually use the micron brush pen but I find the tips on those wear out and then they bend and you don't have the right control.

Tree Lot

Today was a rainy day but I needed to get out and sketch something. I had spent most of yesterday and this morning on Christmas stuff and sketching wasn't on the list. I ended up sitting in my car facing a tree lot to sketch this scene.

Tree Sales and Project

As we are getting into December there are tree lots hoping up around the area. This was a small one in Oakdale. It didn't look too busy when I was there sketching.

#momentsketchers

I am going to attempt to do the Doodlewash December 2018 Art Challenge using the prompts, although I am going to be rather busy for the next week. I will try my best to keep up. The first prompt is lights. These were on the street in Patchogue and include a nice wreath.

I am also going to use this in a special project. An internet friend who lives in Chicago posted a message that she is adopting an entire military unit that is deployed overseas. There are 182 members of the unit and she is planning on mailing out 200 original art postcards to them. She asked several Urban Sketching groups to help with the cards. I won't be meeting up with the NYC Urban Sketchers before the cards need to reach her to be mailed with the others, so I volunteered to do 20 myself and send them to her. The easiest way to reach my goal is to do all my sketches for the next week or so as 4 x 6 cards. The cards can be any theme so I will do an assortment of them...with this one as my first.

Trees for Sale

As soon as Thanksgiving was over the Christmas trees seemed to roll into town. These were at a farmstand in Eastport. Olish's Farm is always fun to sketch but I always forget what exit it is off the highway and end up roaming around looking for it. 

Tree Lot #2

I found another tree lot...and they had the tree wrapper too. This one was in Deer Park.

Tree Lot #1

I've been looking for tree lots to sketch and found this one in Medford. For those who don't know that round instrument of torture is something they pull the Christmas tree through and it puts a netting around the tree sort of scrunching the branches together to make it easier to take the tree home.

I am presently visiting family in Maine for Christmas. We drove up today ahead of the expected storm which should arrive tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too bad and I'll get to do some snow sketches.