Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center

Cornell University sponsors the Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center in Riverhead. There are assorted gardens to visit, but I stayed close to the entrance. 

Funchos

 Every once in a while when I'm in Riverhead for something I stop at Funchos for a taco lunch. They don't actually have 100% inside dining. Most of the tables are in a covered area with sides that roll down to protect you from the elements when it is cold or rainy. It is open all year long with fun decorations and plants. I posted this sketch on Creativespark.art and a friend commented that he remembered the words "arriba, abajo" from a drinking toast. When I was in Spain many, many years ago traveling in my 20s with my sister we learned the toast when we were out drinking with the other young people.

Arriba (to the heavens)

Abajo (to the earth)

Al centro (to the heart)

Al dentro (to the inside)...

and so you would toast with your drink.

Tool Shed at the Herb Farm

Last  Sunday morning I took a ride to the Peconic River Herb Farm. There are a few cute buildings and lots of pottery and fun scenic spots to sketch. I picked the Tool Shed. Isn't it a cute building?

Snowflake Stand

Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe is a treat in Riverhead. They have the BEST ice cream, and I have a difficult time passing by and not stopping. My favorite flavor is peanut butter cup crunch! 

30x30 Direct Watercolor #30 & 31 - Lavender By the Bay

I'm not stopping the direct watercolors yet since the month isn't over. Here are #30 & #31 done at Lavender by the Bay in East Marion on the North Fork of Long Island. The company has 2 lavender fields, but I like this one best...it is more scenic. I painted there with a few other urban sketchers and we made a day of painting, going out to lunch, shopping at farmstands, and finally enjoying ice cream at Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe in Riverhead.

 

Left to right...Sara, Me, Susan, and Elaine

Funchos

I headed out to Riverhead the other day. It was a fairly nice day, but not quite warm enough to sit outside and sketch. I headed over to Funchos, a Mexican restaurant that has a big outdoor seating area and a part of the restaurant that can be covered up in colder weather. I parked so I had a view of some of the fun signs that were outside. I'll have to go back and sketch it again when the outside seating area is open. They decorate it even more and sometimes have live music. I did go inside and have a delicious burrito for lunch.

Here is a closeup of one of the signs.

Long Island Aquarium - Part 2

Between the two digital sketches that I posted yesterday I did one sketch using traditional watercolors and ink. I went into the room with the shark tank. The room is pretty dark and there are small ledges to sit on. I brought along my Mighty Bright light to use to illuminate my work. It isn't easy capturing the sharks and fish. For the most part they keep swimming in the same circle around the tank, but they pass by so quickly that I couldn't get much detail in one pass. I did my best and was happy with the results.

Long Island Aquarium - Part 1

I found out recently that the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead allows free entry up to 7 days before or 7 days after your birthday. Since it was my birthday yesterday, I planned a trip to the Aquarium on Tuesday. I brought along my iPad and planned to do at least one digital sketch. I sat myself down in front of the octopus tank. For the most part he/she was friendly when I was by myself, but as soon as there was noise (little kids) he/she hid behind the structure in the tank. The octopus NEVER stopped moving...and that is 8 legs of movement! I'm glad I was working on the iPad because if it was a regular sketch I would have been erasing like crazy.

I also sat in front of the coral reef tank. Luckily the coral stays fairly still...but the fish keep moving. This was fun to do because it was so colorful. I spent a lot of time on this sketch and tried using several layers.

Don't worry. I didn't abandon my traditional sketching on paper. I'll post that sketch tomorrow.

Red Umbrellas with Sunflowers

 I find red umbrellas very hard to resist and these had buckets of sunflowers below them. How could I resist this display at Bayview Market & Farm in Riverhead?

Water Lily

 My plein air group met at the Peconic River Herb Farm this week. I've been there many times but this was the first time I've ever seen the water lily plants that they sell in bloom.  They have 3 big galvanized tubs containing them but I've only seen the pads before...never the flowers. I was so excited to see them because I was able to get up really close to them which really doesn't happen in a pond. The green plant on the left is water lettuce.

Direct Watercolors #24

 At one time Long Island was famous for duck farming. Of course as more people moved out from the city the number of duck farms decreased. 

In 1931, Riverhead duck farmer Martin Maurer commissioned some local builders to create this 10-ton eye-catcher using concrete (technically, "ferrocement") applied over a wooden frame. Taillights from a Model T Ford became its eyes, glowing red at night. Maurer sold ducks and eggs from the shop in its belly. The building is now used for tourism. I can remember the duck being moved to several locations in the last 40 years, finally coming to a permanent location in Flanders. People love "The Big Duck."

"The Big Duck" is my 24th direct watercolor painting for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge.

Hallockville Farm's Felt and Fiber Festival

 Recently Hallockville Farm in Riverhead advertised that they were having a Felt & Fiber Festival with sheep shearing and other assorted events. I thought it might be fun to sketch. Finding a spot to stand by the pen with a good view of what was happening wasn't easy. The woman doing the shearing was from the Long Island Yarn and Farm in Yaphank. I showed her the sketch when it was finished and she took a photo of it. She also invited me to come to her farm any time to sketch or paint, but to just call ahead to make sure there was someone there to let me in.

Later in the day she was going to shear one of her llamas. It would have been fun to watch but it was too long of a wait until she was doing it again. 

Riverhead Train Station

 I like checking out train stations to find something different. So many of the stations here don't have much character. The Long Island Railroad Station in Riverhead has some. I was glad to go back and sketch it.

At the Train Yard

The train yard in Riverhead has some interesting old train cars. Of course the red one attracted me immediately. 

 

St. Isidore

 When I was out in Riverhead recently I went into downtown Riverhead to a Polish deli to buy kielbasa. Riverhead has a large Polish population and hosts a Polish Fair every summer. On the way in I passed St. Isidore Catholic Church which I know is a Polish parish. I figured I would stop and sketch it.

Suffolk Theater

 Riverhead has a restored Restored 1930s art-deco venue featuring big-name concerts and shows. The Suffolk Theater is great on the outside, but I haven't seen the inside. I'll have to check it out.

East End Barn

The other day I took a ride out to Riverhead to a Polish deli to buy some kielbasa for Christmas Eve dinner. Since I was out there and there was still some snow around, I looked for a scenic spot to sketch. I found this barn next to the Long Ireland Beer Company. I think barns shaped like this were/are used as potato barns, and Long Island was famous for growing potatoes. I'm not sure what it is being used for now but I sketched it anyway. 

Red Umbrella and Table

When I was in Riverbed the other day I stopped at the Roadhouse Brick Oven Pizzeria. They have a white pizza with spinach that I just love. I ate inside but when I went out to the parking lot I was attracted to the picnic tables along the river. The bright red tables and red and white umbrella really stood out against the autumn foliage.

Indian Island Paintings

I headed out to Riverhead yesterday to do some Christmas shopping, but promised myself I would go and do 2 paintings for the troops before I shopped. (By the way I bought all of 1 Christmas gift.) I went to a spot called Indian Island County Park which is a park that has campsites and is on the water. Even at this time of year there were a few campers staying there. How do you stay warm in a camper when the temperatures are so cold? Anyway, I parked down by the water facing an inlet and painted in two different directions. As of this morning I had 14 postcards done...and I finished 2 more today.

Inktober 2018 - Day 28 - At the Car Show

Today I headed out to Riverhead to a classic car show that was being held outside the Hotel Indigo. My thinking was that this would be a good place for my Day 28 Inktober sketch. I've been wanting to make some notecards with cars on them so I brought along good, loose paper that was 5 x 7 to sketch on. As you came in there was this vintage 1927 Ford parked by the hotel. I found a spot to sit across from it where it should be a pretty clear view to see the car. It worked well and nobody blocked me for more than 2 seconds. Several people wandered over to look at what I was doing. When I finished I took a few photos of it and the actual car.

#inktober, #inktober2018

Here are a few other cars that caught my eye. It seemed like it would be too disruptive to sit and sketch any of these in the middle of all the people so I took photos and started to leave. 

But on my way out there was a Harley that was parked right near where I had been sitting earlier, so I stopped to sketch it. While I was sketching the bike a man came over and said that people told him I had been sketching his car earlier and he asked to see the sketch. He wanted to know if it was for sale and bought it. So this year Inktober has been a financial success with a sale. lol I'm glad I had taken a photo of the sketch earlier, so I can still make prints of the sketch.

Anyway, here is the Harley that I sketched. This one I did in ink and watercolors.