Boat Repairs

 My PALS Plein Air group met at the Long Island Maritime Museum last week. The grounds are what always interest me, but this time I didn't work on the water views. There are several buildings on the property that are used for boat building and renovations. This particular building caught my interest because of the light on the boat inside coming through the open doorway. I believe the boat inside is the Priscilla, an old oyster sloop that is being renovated. The mast on the Pricilla had been removed and slices of it have been decorated by artist for the next fundraiser that the Maritime Museum is having. I painted one of the pieces for the next fundraiser.

Frank F Penney Boat Shop

On the grounds of the Long Island Maritime Museum there are several buildings besides the museum. This is the Frank F. Penney Boat Shop. It has a bit of history. 

This structure was once the laundry building for the Brooklyn Hotel located in Center Moriches. When the hotel burned down Mr. Penney jumped at the chance to rescue the building for use in his boatyard. In 1978 it was floated by barge from Moriches to the Museum. Today it serves the same purpose it served in 1900 - it is the center of our volunteer boat building program. 

Fundraiser for the Long Island Maritime Museum

Once again the Long Island Maritime Museum is having a fundraiser. They are restoring The Priscilla, a sixty-foot, 1888 oyster dredge. Her mast had to be replaces and to pay for a new one artists have been painting on slabs of wood cut from Priscilla's mast. Each slice is about 2 1/2 inches thick. Some are perfectly round and some had the bottom flattened so that it can stand up. The paintings will all be for sale/auctioned in the near future. Here is my submission for the fundraiser.

Here it is standing.

I used acrylic paints for this project. The next time I'll have to remember to cover it with white gesso so the paint goes on the wood smoother.

Sayville Marsh View

I made a visit to the grounds around the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville recently. It always is a tempting spot for a sketch.

Long Island Maritime Museum Fundraiser

A few years ago I participated in a fundraiser for the Long Island Maritime Museum. They had local artists paint on pieces of shingles that had blown off their boathouse during one of our big storms. Right before I left for Venice I was contacted and found out that they were doing another fundraiser. I took some shingles to work on but ran out of time to get them done. I thought I missed the deadline but last week I found out that the fundraiser was going to be held starting this coming weekend. I decided to participate and I did three paintings this time. The largest is 17 1/2 x 4 1/2 (the second one down). The other two are about 11 x 4 each.

Here is some information about the fundraiser. I dropped my pieces off today and some of the wonderful work by the other artist was already on display.

 

Bayman's Cottage - 2 Versions

About a month ago I was featured on a Facebook page called Sayville Artists. The person running the page posted about 25 of my sketches (most of Sayville). As a result I was contacted by several people who were interested in my work. One woman was interested in a painting I had done of the Bayman's Cottage on the grounds of the Long Island Maritime Museum in Sayville. It seems that the cottage originally belonged to her grandparents and at some point her grandfather donated the cottage to the Maritime Museum. It was moved there from its original location in Sayville. The woman lives in Florida now but has great memories of sitting on the porch and wanted to purchase the painting as a remembrance. It was a painting I had started for Paint the Great South Bay one year, but it started raining and I never completed the painting. I told her that  she could purchase it as it was or if she wanted I would finish the painting for her. She also decided she wanted a smaller version of the painting to give as a gift to her uncle who lives in the house where it is on the museum grounds. The two paintings are very similar.

This is the original one and is 8 x 10.

Here is the smaller 5 x 7 version done for her uncle.

As I worked on the original one I realized there were no shadows anywhere (since it was raining) and no background trees. I made quite a few additions.

Maritime Museum Grounds

 On Wednesday evening the Patchogue Sketch Club and some artists from Paint the Great South Bay met on the grounds of the Long Island Maritime Museum. It is a great place to sketch because the marsh views are always a little different. It was a hot night so I sat in the shade of one of the buildings which gave me a different foreground than I have when I usually sketch there. I sketched the boardwalk and pilings and the marsh first leaving the sky empty. I wanted to paint that when the sun was starting to set. There were some muted sunset colors and a bit of orange where the ball of the sun was as I finished this.

Dock View

The other day was sunny and seemed to be warm, so I headed over to Corey Beach. There was a breeze so it was a bit chilly...but I had my fleece jacket just in case. This is the view of the Blue Point Dock from the beach there.

Just an update. I found out that the other shingle painting I did for the fundraiser at the Long Island Maritime Museum sold. I am glad that both of my paintings sold and the funds are going to such a great local place.

Inktober 2020 Day 26 - Halloween Display

It was drizzling the other day so I really wasn't inspired to go far to find a subject for my Day 26 Inktober sketch. I backed my car out of the garage and remembered that I had wanted to sketch the Halloween display on my neighbor's patio. So I sat in my mobile studio in the parking space right in front of their patio and sketched from there.

Just an update...remember the paintings I did on the shingles for the fundraiser that the Long Island Maritime Museum was having? Well, so far 43 pieces have sold including this one of mine. They art will continue to be on display at the Maritime Museum until the middle of November, so I am sure that more pieces will sell. Of course these were donated, so the artist isn't getting anything from the sale, but it is nice to know that my piece has a new home.

Inktober 2020 Day 17 - Maritime Sheds and NYC Open House

My Inktober 2020 sketch was done of some sheds on the grounds of the Maritime Museum in Sayville. It was too windy to sit outside so my mobile studio came in very handy. This is the first of the sketches for Inktober this year where I only used hatching for shading. 

The NYC Urban Sketchers used a weekend celebration of architecture with NYC Open House as a way to virtually visit some different buildings and areas of the city. There were a variety of locations that gave virtual tours of their properties. As with all things that the group does, you don't really have to stick to the references that are provided. You can pretty much sketch anything that fits the theme. I used a link to The JAX, a new office space in Long Island City. The buildings are modern and airy and the development has an elevated park-like area with native plants that create a meadow for the tenants and their workers to enjoy. I think it must have wonderful views looking out over to NYC from those huge windows.

Docked

On Tuesday morning I finally met up with my plein air group at the Maritime Museum in Sayville. Most of the locations they've met at this year have been too far for me to join them and be able to get back to take care of Jerry. This was perfect! It was good to see them and converse at a social distance with our masks. This time I focused on the sailboat that was at the dock. Most of the boats there are motor boats so I was glad to see this one. There were artists standing on the dock but I used artistic license and left them out. One of them was trying to retrieve a $40 brush that she had dropped into the water. (A hazard of plein air painting by the water.) She was successful.

View to the Bay

The other day I had to drop off my shingle paintings at the Maritime Museum in Sayville, so when I was done I figured I would stay for a while and do a sketch. This is the view from the end of the dock looking out to the Great South Bay. In the distance you can see the bridge going to Fire Island.

Fundraiser Painting #2

I worked on another painting for the fundraiser for the Long Island Maritime Museum in Sayville. The second piece of shingle is a very odd-shaped piece. It is 18 inches by 1 1/2 inches at its widest. I thought for a long time about what the painting should be. At first I was going to do a wave but instead decided to do a view across the marsh right at the grounds of the Maritime Museum. I've done many paintings and sketches of that view but never in such a panoramic size. The center part is mostly the actual view but since I had to extend it because of the length of the shingle piece, I had to use artistic license to add to the scene on the right and the left. This was done in acrylic over gesso.

The shingles will be part of an auction/sale as a fundraiser for the Maritime Museum this year.

Fundraiser Painting #1

The Long Island Maritime Museum contacted local artists to take part in an auction/sale fundraiser to be held in October. Due to Covid 19 all their prior annual fundraising events for the year were cancelled. During the recent storm, Isaisa, some of the shingles blew off the historic 1900 Frank F. Penny Boat Shop. The shingle pieces will be what the artists do their designs on. I decided that since I've painted and sketched on their grounds so many times it is the least I can do to support them. I have two shingle pieces to paint. This one is 9 1/2 inches by 1 3/4 inches...yes, quite small...even for me. lol This was done with acrylic paint on gesso.

Maritime Museum

Wednesday night the Patchogue Sketch Club met at the Long Island Maritime Museum in Sayville. I have to say I have never been inside the museum itself, but have sketched some of the old boats outside and the wonderful views across the marsh to the bay from the docks there. It was good to be able to schedule my night so that I could get out for about 2 hours. Jerry is good that way. As long as I give him dinner before I go it seems to work out. This is the second week in a row that I have gone out to meet up with the sketchers.

Here is the view from the dock looking toward the bay.

Several of the sketchers are participating in Paint the Great South Bay this week. I have participate in the past but with Jerry's condition I knew there was no way that I could find the time to paint en plein air every day so that I would have several paintings to display. Mark, who I sketched below came to sketch on his bicycle. He had all his painting and sketching materials with him, including a stool to sit on. He ended up just sketching with his sketchbook resting on the handlebars of his bike. Of course I started sketching him when I finished the painting above and midway he decided he was leaving. He didn't leave right away but did turn completely around so that I had to sketch the rest of his bicycle from the opposite direction.

Paint the Great South Bay - Part 2 - Marsh View

I am posting the paintings for Paint the Great South Bay a bit out of order. I forgot to take photos of two of the completed paintings, so I will post those last and maybe have a chance to get photos of the finished pieces that are hanging in Patchogue. 

Down at the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville there is a great view of the marsh from the dock. That's where I headed for this painting. You can see a bit of the beach off on the left where the bay comes in between Fire Island and West Sayville. This was a location that several other artist also painted. Some did the marsh and some did the boats that are outside at the museum. It was a windy day and I am lucky the painting didn't blow away...my water containers did. They ended up right in the water. lol

Maritime Museum

Yes, I skipped a day of sketching...this is happening too frequently. lol We were off visiting good friends yesterday and today, so I didn't get to sketch at all. I remedied that tonight. We got home about 5 PM and I headed out to meet the Patchogue Sketch Club at the Long Island Maritime Museum in Sayville. It was a hot day today so I was afraid the weather would be unbearable there but there was a nice breeze for a while and it was about 6 degrees cooler than here. There are some old boats there that are always fun to sketch.

PSGB Part 3

Yesterday I met my friend, Gina at the Maritime Museum grounds in Sayville. The views across the marsh are what I planned for my painting for Paint the Great South Bay. I brought along a rectangular watercolor paper to do more of a panoramic view. I stood out on the dock that is closest to the marsh, but Gina focused on one of the maritime buildings for her pastel. She took a photo of me working out on the dock. You can see me there facing the marsh.

Here is my painting at the beginning stages.

And here it is a little while later.

Here is the finished painting.

 I think I mentioned the other day that I was interviewed for an article that was going into our biggest Long Island newspaper, Newsday about the Paint the Great South Bay event. The article was in the paper yesterday! I don't know if you can enlarge the words enough to read them, but I am quoted.

Maritime Museum

Considering the number of times I've sketched on the grounds of the Maritime Museum in Sayville it is surprising I've never sketched the museum istelf. The other day I finally did. It was windy and on the cold side so I bundled up well.