Virtual Tour of the NYBG Orchid Show

In this crazy time there are all kinds of art activities to participate in. I never get to meet up with the weekday NYC Urban Sketchers Group that is organized by Cathy Gutterman in Westchester. Today she had the group go on a virtual walk through The Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. It was a fun and informative tour. I thought it was going to be live, but it was prerecorded which turned out to be a good thing because I was able to go back and watch parts again and add additional details.

The tour started in the Conservancy Greenhouse which is where all special programs are located. I am a NYBG member, but due to the virus the gardens are closed. The display was designed by Jeff Leatham and the tour was led by Marc Hachadourian, Director of Glasshouse Horticulture  and Senior Curator of Orchids. I sketched several views of the Greenhouse as we walked along.

As you enter the Greenhouse there is a water feature and above it is this lovely grid of Vanda orchids in fuscia and purple.

Next we went to the American Desert Gallery which is presently being renovated and is closed to the public. I've sketched there many times.

A colorful tunnel connects the sections of the Conservancy.

Each of the above sketches were small and are all on the same sketchbook page.

As the tour continued, I sketched a few of the many different orchids. I also sketched Marc showing a  small orchid plant.

My thanks to Cathy for organizing this. It was fun! If you would like to see the tour you can follow this link.

Longwood Estate

On Tuesday my plein air group met at Longwood Estate in Ridge, NY. We've painted there a few times and it is especially lovely at this time of year. This is 8 x 10.



Caretaker's Cottage

This is a second painting I did on Tuesday at Longwood Estate. This is the caretaker's cottage. I liked the light on the porch and the rocking chair. This is 8 x 10.



Longwood Estate Barn

Yesterday my plein air group went to Longwood Estate in Ridge, NY to paint. They have a few newer barns that are in good shape, but I love this one that needs a little TLC. This was done as a double page spread in my journal for the Sketchbook Project.



At the Boatyard, Blue Door on First Street. and Wiggins Street Charmer

This weekend I participated in my first paintout in Greenport, NY. Plein air artists did paintings in the village on Friday and Saturday and then there was a silent auction of the paintings to benefit the Maritime Museum in Greenport. Of course we had horrible weather. lol It rained most of the day on Friday, so my friend and I ended up painting this view from the front seat of my car. Most of the time it was raining too hard to keep the windows open and it was so hot and humid in the car. I used artistic license to make the day look a bit nicer in the painting...no heavy rain or flooding.

To do this second painting I sat in my car again, while it was parked in someone's driveway on the other side of the street. It was still raining, but not quite as hard as in the morning.

We saw only one other artist while we were in Greenport for the day. I think the weather scared most of them away.

I had painted another house the weekend before in Greenport. This was a challenge to do because after I sketched it out, we found out that the cars for the Shelter Island ferry lined up on that street, just in front of where we were sitting to paint.