Smith Point Beach

 There is a memorial at Smith Point Park to TWA Flight 800 that exploded and crashed into the ocean near Smith Point Beach in 1996. It is a beautiful memorial with wonderful plants and flowers. I've sketched there many times and did so recently. These beautiful irises were clustered together near one of the walls. The dunes and the ocean are beyond this area.

While I was there I sat up near the concession stand area and sketchcd a few people down on the sand.

Waves

 With the hurricane building off the coast recently we got some interesting waves at the beach here. This was sketched at Smith Point Park.

Daffs from the Memorial Garden

 The forecast the other day was for temps near 70 degrees so I headed over to Smith Point Park to the ocean. There was a lot of construction going on around the pavilion area so I took a walk over to the Flight 800 Memorial Garden. Usually there are some flowers in bloom and I was hoping for tulips. I wasn't that lucky. There were a few daffodils still in bloom but they were outnumbered by blossoms that were past their prime. I sketched them anyway.

Smith Point Park

I was busy for most of the early part of the day doing some cleaning that has been waiting to be done since Jerry got sick. But his afternoon I took a ride down to the ocean. I usually visit the ocean beach all year long, but haven't been down there yet this year. It was windy so I sat in my mobile studio and did a small painting of the ocean and the dunes at Smith Point Park.

Smith Point View

Yesterday was a warm, breezy day so I headed over to Smith Point Park. It was too windy to go down on the beach so I sat in the parking lot along the edge of the dunes and sketched the sky and the foliage.

Smith Point Marina

I love the water views we have here on Long Island. This was painted at the Smith Point Marina, just on the mainland before the bridge to Smith Point Park.

Beach Iris

You wouldn't often associate a beach with irises, but I do. Smith Point Park, one of the beaches near me, has the TWA Flight 800 Memorial overlooking the water. The memorial and gardens are in memory of the lives lost when Flight 800 exploded off the Long Island coast. It was the area where much of the debris from the plane washed up. The memorial is really lovely and I often get there at the right time to paint the irises. The only ones in bloom the other day were white ones which are so hard to paint. I gave it a try.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 11 - Purple Water Lily

Today for Day 11 of "30 Paintings in 30 Days" I have painted a purple water lily. The reference for this was taken at Westbury Gardens.

#30paintingsin30days

Here is a link to the other paintings being done for the challenge:

http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog

You know I can't be away from the water. Here is a small painting I did down by the bay. The bridge in the painting goes across the bay to Smith Point Park at the eastern end of Fire Island.

Paint the Great South Bay 2015 - Part I

I signed up to take part in a plein air event called "Paint the Great South Bay" being sponsored by SBAA, one of my local art groups. I think we had about 32 artists participating. This was the second year this has been held and I participated last year too. We could paint beginning on Wednesday and ending on Saturday. Each artist would be able to hang 2/3 paintings at the gallery at the end of the show.

The rules were to paint en plein air somewhere on the south shore of Long Island between Islip to the west and Mastic to the east and south of Sunrise Highway. It gave us a large area to find locations and after having my papers stamped for the event I met several other artists at Smith Point Beach on Wednesday evening. A few of us painted from the decks of the ranger's station which was empty at the time. It afforded a good aerial view of the beach in both directions. I was facing west, so the setting sun was in my eyes. In addition, the mosquitoes must have thought the Off I sprayed on my body was something delicious. I now have bites the size of Texas. LOL But we persevered. Here is the painting I did. This is about 7 x 10.

Here are a few photos from that evening.

My painting against the setting sun.

Watching the sun going down.

Gina Lento painting from the deck.

Mary Jane painting.

Getting darker as the mosquitoes increased.

Here are links to the paintings I did last year.
http://watercolorsbyjoan2.blogspot.com/2014/08/paint-great-south-bay-part-1.html

and
http://watercolorsbyjoan2.blogspot.com/2014/08/paint-great-south-bay-part-2.html

Tomorrow I'll post more from Paint the Great South Bay.

Smith Point Marina Views I & II

These were done last week from the parking lot of the Smith Point Marina which is at the foot of the bridge that goes over to Smith Point Park on Fire Island. I was facing towards the mainland. It was so windy that day that I couldn't paint outdoors, I had to sit in the car.

This one has a bit of the parking lot in it.

Beach Sketches

I was at Smith Point Park the other day. I like sketching people at the beach...unless they are really restless. I did this one directly in ink.

There were two little toddlers near me. They weren't together but after I put them on the paper they were friends.

Near Smith Point

On my visit down to Smith Point, which is part of Fire Island, I stopped at the Smith Point Marina. This is the view from there across to Smith Point Beach.

I sketched these rocks in the parking lot at the beach. It is on the bay side of the island. While I was sketching this 7 deer and a red fox came strolling along. They often feed on the grasses, especially now when there is so little traffic in the parking lot.

Day 14 of Floral Fantasy is posted. I included a few friends who are also doing fake journals in my sketches there yesterday and today.

floralfantasybyjoan.blogspot.com

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 27 - Clouds Over the Beach Grasses

I am close to the end of Leslie's challenge. Check out the other artwork here:

http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com You can vote for your favorites on Sea Dean's blog here:

http://paintamasterpiece.blogspot.com

This was done en plein air yesterday before I painted the waves that I posted yesterday. The location was Smith Point State Park and this is 5 x 7.

Clouds Over the Beach Grasses by Joan Tavolott

Today NY is at the end of our blizzard which has so far dumped somewhere around 15 inches of snow in my area.  It is hard to tell exactly how deep it is from my doorway since it is too deep for me to walk out without putting on my boots. I measured ouside my garage door and the deepest drift I could reach was 19 inches and light snow is still falling. Here are a few photos. I will go out later and take some more.

Comfortable Seat

Yesterday I was at the beach at Smith Point Park and this lady and her family parked themselves right in front of me (the nerve!!!) blocking my clear view of the water. Since they were my view I decided I would sketch them. The family was large but I decide to focus on just two of them. The woman on the cooler was the only one with a seat, and the young woman in front of her was the swimmer of the family. She was in the water a lot.

Assorted Sketches

Even when the weather isn't good, I try to get outside to at least do a sketch. This was done down at the Blue Point dock from my car because it was spritizing (not good for watercolors or ink). At this time of year there are always people fishing and crabbing...often with their children. This was done in my Stillman & Birn Alpha Sketchbook with lovely ink that bleeds.

When the weather is good...I try to get down to the beach for at least a few hours. There are always willing subjects standing and sitting around. These next three were all done at Smith Point Beach.

Sometimes I'm close enough to sketch a tiny toddler who may or may not stay put long enough for me to do a sketch. This little lady stayed put for most of the time. I'm still working on a blend to use for skin tones...and they are even harder on children. I try to not be obvious that I'm looking so the parents don't get nervous that I'm watching their child. lol I rarely have anyone notice that I'm sketching them or someone they are with.

And the hardest subject of all at the beach are the gulls. If they come close enough some kids usually chase them.

New ATCs for the WetCanvas Landscape Exchange

Here are a few more ATCs (2.5 x 3.5) that I've done for the WetCanvas Landscape Exchange.

All of these were done en plein air and have been received by their new owners.

This was for Dominic in the UK and is titled "Across the Water."

It was painted near the Maritime Museum in West Sayville.

Both of these were painted from Smith Point Park.

This one was done facing the mainland

Here is "Beach View I" which I sent to Bridget in Alberta, Canada.

"Beach View II" was done for Bonnie in Regina, SK, Canada.

This time I faced the ocean.

Smith Point View

I spend a lot of time at the beach in the summer, and try to paint something before I go relax on the beach. This is the view from Smith Point Beach on the eastern end of Fire Island looking back toward the mainland.

Smith Point View

I hadn't been down to the beach for quite a while, and was feeling an urge to get down there. I drove over to Smith Point which is part of Fire Island. I didn't go over to the ocean side but painted on the bay side instead. This is 5 x 7.

April 16 - Mobile, AL

Smith Point Beach

I finally took a ride down to the beach that I go to most often in the summer to see what it was like after the hurricane. As you can see in my sketch, a great deal of the sand is eroded under the concrete walkways. The previous storms had eroded a lot of sand even up to the wall. But now it is eroded past the wall and around the side, breaking up some of the concret path itself. In front of the food pavillion was a big staircase leading to the beach. Only a few pilings are still standing ...none of the staircases or railings. The beach is much shorter too. To the right of what you see here were dunes that were about 15-20 feet high. They are totally gone. The water had come over the dunes into the bbq area and wiped away everything.

The surfers yesterday were having a great time. I think the floor of the ocean in front of the beach has probably changed and is producing different waves. I don't know if that is good for them or not, but they were out there checking it out yesterday.

 

On another note I am pleased to announce that my work will be hanging in a few places next month.

First is our annual PALS Plein Air Show on Dec. 8th and 9th.

Here is an invite in case you are in the area.

My work will also be going into the Fiedler Gallery on Main Street in Greenport, NY. Rich Fiedler has his work in the gallery downstairs and rents wall space to artists upstairs in the building. Two friends of mine have been sharing a section of one of the walls with other artists they knew. The other artists are dropping out and I will be sharing the wall with Jeanne Salucci and Chris Taylor starting December 1. I will post some photos once we have the new arrangement hung at the gallery.

Wish me luck!

Clouds Across the Bay

Last week we had a few days with wonderful clouds in the sky. I did this sitting in the dunes at Smith Point Park facing the mainland. For those of you who are not from this area, Smith Point Park is a Suffolk County Park located on the very eastern end of Fire Island. It is one of the few areas of Fire Island that you can drive to. I go there a lot to the beach. There is also a camping area. This is 5 x 7.