Short Beach

 A slightly warmer day took me up to Short Beach in Smithtown. If it wasn't for the wind I probably could have sat outside to paint, but I sat protected in my mobile studio.

Around Locally

 I've been sketching a bit around locally. This is the back deck of a restaurant in Patchogue that is right on the canal called Harbor Crab.

I did stop into Sayville Bean for a capuccino and a sketch the other day.

This house was up in Smithtown among the historic houses.

You know how I love the street corners in the small towns. This was sketched of the East Moriches Hardware Store.

Smithtown Buildings

 These buildings were near the Smithtown Historic Society. I don't think they are part of the property but a lot of the buildings up there look historic. 

Short Beach View - SOLD

Last Sunday we had a surprisingly warm day...probably about 65 degrees and sunny. My friend, Susan and I took a ride up to Short Beach in Smithtown. It was actually warm enough to sit outside without a coat and paint! It felt so good to be outside painting, and it was nice to be painting with a friend. 

Since I posted this on Facebook it sold.

Happy Thanksgiving

 The autumn colors that are still around fit perfectly with the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope that today you find time to appreciate the people and things that make your life special. My thanks to all of you who stop by to visit my blog and some of you who leave such nice comments. I appreciate all of you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was painted by one of the walkways at Sunken Meadow State Park in Smithtown.

Storm Clouds Over Short Beach

Last week I had planned to go to a carnival to sketch on Sunday. I had almost reached the location when it started to drizzle. I knew the forecast was for rain at some point, heavy at times, so I changed my plan and headed over to Short Beach in Smithtown. The clouds were really dark at that point and at times I had to turn on the windshield wipers to see what was in front of me. I really poured! I was just hoping that it would subside by the time I was leaving and that the roads near the water wouldn't be flooded. 

I lucked out!

Smithtown Historical Society

 I love old buildings that are full of charm like this one of a blacksmith's shop on the grounds of the Smithtown Historical Society.

Inktober 2022 - Day 20 - Smithtown House & Life Sketches

 Today I was up in Smithtown and found an interesting house for my Inktober sketch.

Last night the Patchogue Sketch Club was invited to a special event at MOCA LI and hosted by the Patchogue Arts Council which involved poetry and sketching. Our poet, Terri Muuss, read us several of her poems and then posed in a way that she thought reflected her feelings about the part of her life that each poem was written about. As she read her poems we got to know a little bit about her and the horrific difficulties like incest, drugs, and loss that she has survived. Her poems are raw, emotional, and inspiring. 

In the sketch below we did 5 two minute sketches overlapping them.

The very bottom sketch with her arms raided was in response to her poem, "Finish Line."

30 x 30 Direct Watercolors - Day 23

 There is something that attracts me to umbrellas...and how could I pass up these red umbrellas. Here is my Day 23 painting done in Smithtown. This is 5 x 7.

Kings Park Bluff View

This was sketched at Kings Park Bluff in Smithtown. There are two levels of parking, one at the bottom of the bluff and one at the top. I was parked at the bottom. 

Cordwood Park View

This weekend I found myself sketching at Cordwood Park in Saint James.  It ia an area of open space along the water in Smithtown, but has parking only for about 6 cars and says you need a Smithtown permit to park. I ignored that since it was off season and sketched from my mobile studio rather than climbing down by the water.

Short Beach

I've been fighting what I guess is a cold the last few days and haven't had much energy. Yesterday I actually stayed home all day, reading on the couch and napping. I guess that helped because today I'm feeling quite a bit better. You know me, I couldn't let another day pass without getting out to sketch. I took a ride up to Short Beach in Smithtown. I've sketched there many times and it always looks different. I tried to make this look textural. I was using a Bee Paper Aquabee Sketchbook which accepts watercolor but I was concerned that it wouldn't take as much punishment as regular watercolor paper. So I was surprised that it withstood quite a bit of scratching. I'm happy with the way this came out.

Smithtown Historical Society

I've sketched at the Smithtown Historical Society quite a few times. It is a good place to go when you want to paint something with strong color like this old barn.

Sweetbriar

The other day I met some friends at Sweetbriar Farm in Smithtown to paint. The weather was iffy but I managed to get a painting done for #WorldWatercolorMonth.

Here I am painting there. Photo courtesy of Sue Ditkowski.

Short Beach Revisited

I went back to Short Beach in Smithtown last week. Instead of focusing on the marsh grasses I did part of the beach itself. This is 8 x 10.

EDM May 4 - bottles of herbs or spices

Short Beach

The other day it was nice and I knew I had to go out and paint. I drove up to Short Beach which is in the Town of Smithtown and will soon be off limits for me to visit without someone along who is a resident.  I called my friend who lives up there to come and meet me, and she did. Luckily I did most of the painting before she arrived. We spent the whole time she was there talking. I don't think we've seen each other since the fall, so we had a lot of catching up to do. 

The color of the beach grasses was great with the bits of water between them. Within an hour all the blue of the water was gone and there were just small puddles and mostly mud. The tide changes quickly. I was happy with the way this came out. This is 5 x 7.

While we were there we noticed a huge new osprey nest up on one of the poles in the parking lot. If you look carefully you can see one of the birds at the top edge of the nest. I'm always amazed by the size of their nests, and a lot of the parks here put up nesting poles for the osprey.

"Floral Fantasy" has another post...visit if you can.

floralfantasybyjoan.blogspot.com

Pink House

On Friday I joined two friends at Blydenburg County Park in Smithtown to paint. I had never been to the park before. They have an area with historical houses and have people dressed in period costumes that do programs for kids and groups. There were too many school kids around to paint up by most of the buildings so we headed down by the lake to sketch. This pink building and a mill were down near the water. It was an interesting spot to sketch and I will probably return there to sketch or paint the other buildings and people.

Hoyt Farm

Last week I visited Hoyt Farm Preserve in Smithtown. In season it is a park that is open to Smithtown residents (which I am not) or people accompanying residents. I figured that they wouldn't be charging to park, or checking to see if you belonged at this time of year. Besides, I was going to sit in my car and sketch anyway. Luckily there was an interesting barn right near the parking lot. I will have to go back with one of my friends that lives up there and see what else is on the property. This is 5 x 7.

Snowy Entry

No, I didn't forget about yesterday's painting. I did darken the sky, but now I need to darken the branches of the trees a bit. I'll repost it soon.

This painting was done from my car on the property of the Smithtown Historical Society last week. I loved the snowy bushes and the ice hanging from the roof edges.
This is 5 x 7.

 I think I have done more snow paintings this year than I have done in my entire lifetime put together...and we had another storm overnight which changed to rain and is now supposed to turn back to snow tonight. Enough already! I hope you are safe and warm wherever you are. We lost power a few times today for a few minutes each time, so I cooked dinner ahead of time just in case. I wouldn't want to be without food. lol

Short Beach in Winter

On one of our recent cold days I bundled up and headed over to Short Beach up near Smithtown. There are always great views and it changes as the tide comes in and out.