To the Marina (SOLD)

 I am participating in a plein air event being held by the South Bay Art Association. We have had about a week to paint scenes in and around Bellport. I had already done one painting of the Bellport Historical Society, but wanted to do a second painting so I would have a choice of what I could put into the exhibition which is being held tomorrow at Bellport Day. The event will be judged.

Update: This painting sold the day after the exhibit.

For this painting I painted from an area on Bellport Lane where I've done smaller paintings before. I parked my car under a nice, big shady tree. Then I took out my easel and set it up in front of my car. I was able to lean against the hood of my car while I was painting. Looking down the street at the end is the Bellport Yacht Club behind the security gate. I always like the strong shadows across the lane in this area.

Here is the finished painting.

Here is my setup at the start of the day.

I

The painting was nearly done here.


In the finished painting I darkened the building behind the security gate house to separate the buildings a little more. 

Sayville Walkway

I've been doing quite a lot of my sketches lately in an Arteza 5.5 in square sketchbook. The South Bay Art Association is  doing a sketchbook project and the sketchbooks will eventually be catalogued and housed in the Brookhaven Free Library. I have until the beginning of November to fill the book. Since a lot of my sketches are small I've started doing them in this book. All of my sketches are Long Island scenes. This one is part of the walkway at Sayville Marina Park.

Bellport View

 I am participating in a paint out with the South Bay Art Association. Each participating artist will be allowed to exhibit one local painting done during the plein air event. I worked on this view of Bellport over several days. I wanted the lighting to be similar so I went to paint around 10:30 each day. I'm happy with the way it came out. The last day I actually had shadows too. The work will be exhibited next Saturday, July 29 at Bellport Day.

Brookhaven Free Library

 The Brookhaven Free Library is tiny but packs a punch. They often let the South Bay Art Association hold their sketching sessions there. The art group has partnered with the library on a special sketchbook project. Our interested members have purchased 6 x 6 Arteza sketchbooks and are filling them with sketches and artwork.  Your sketchbook can have a theme or not have one...the choice is yours. The sketchbooks will be completed and returned at our annual potluck and election in November, so there is plenty of time to work on them. Then the library is going to catalogue the sketchbooks and keep them as a permanent display at the library. I have completed quite a few pages in mine and this sketch of the library is included. All of my sketches have been done on location and are of the local area.

Zentangle

 The South Bay Art Association had their general meeting last week and we all worked on zentangles. We did them a few years ago and I enjoyed doing them, but probably haven't done more than one since then. Here was what I worked on this time.

Sketching at CEED

On Sunday the sketch group component of the South Bay Art Association got together at CEED in Brookhaven for a sketching session. There were only 5 of us who showed up but we had a good time sketching and talking. 

There were several raised beds planted with vegetables and flowers. There were a few eggplants growing, but there were very few tomatoes. I think those get picked as soon as they turn red.

 

There was a table by the building that was filled with a lot of cacti and succulents. I sketched a few of them. One of the workers told me that the plant on the right with the huge leaves is over 40 years old. I thought that was rather impressive.

Here are a few of our members working on their sketches.

Paint Out - Part 3

For my next painting for the paint out I decided to do something actually on Main Street in Bellport. It was very hot so I looked for a shady spot with a nice view. There was a big tree near Bellport Apothecary, a new business in town. They had tables and flowers outside so it seemed like a good spot. There was even someone inside that I could see in the window. I painted until the sun had moved too much and I was sitting in the sun instead of the shade. The manager of the store came out to see what I was doing and asked me if I was going to post it somewhere and I told her it would eventually be on Facebook and Instagram. I told her I was going to stop for that day and come back another morning when the light and shadows would be similar. 

I went back the next morning and continued painting. The woman from the store came out and offered to put everything back in a similar spot so I could continue. I told her that wasn't necessary. She wanted to see it when I was finished. Here it is finished.

The store manager said she told the owner (Giovanni) about the painting and said he was interested in buying it and asked if she could take a photo of it. So the painting is SOLD. I will use two other paintings for the day of the exhibit.

 

Paint Out - Part 2

For my second painting for the South Bay Art Association's plein air paint out, I headed all the way to the end of Beaver Dam Road in Brookhaven.  The scene is of an inlet from the Great South Bay with reeds and trees. I was painting using a small umbrella that hooked on to my chair for shade. I was there early hoping to beat the heat since it was supposed to hit a high in the low 90s. I couldn't move from where I was sitting and couldn't turn around because of the umbrella. I kept hearing splashing sounds behind me. It turns out there were several people behind me baiting their lines (with chicken legs) to catch crabs.

Paint Out - Part 1

The South Bay Art Association is hosting a plein air paint out in the towns of Bellport, Brookhaven, and East Patchogue. We can paint at any location in these towns and two paintings from each artist will be exhibited and for sale at Bellport Day on July 30. On Saturday I registered for the paint out and then went over to H.O.G. Farm in Brookhaven. There is a farm with a barn where produce and other things are for sale.

While I was working my friend, Michele DePaolo came by and sat with me chatting while I worked. She also took a photo of me in the field with my painting. She is very good at coming out during paint outs and photographing the participating artists.

 

Meeting at CEED

On Sunday the South Bay Art Association had our general meeting. It is usually held on a Wednesday but we were invited to a meeting at the newly renovated Center for Environmental Education and Discovery at the historic Washington Lodge. One of the directors spoke to us about the history of the building and gave us a tour of the building and the 60 acre property. The goal of the center is connecting people with nature and connecting nature and art. I sketched Sally as she spoke to us and included two of our members who were sitting near me. This was done with water-soluble brown ink.

 

Plein Air in Bellport - Part 1

 On Sunday the South Bay Art Association held its first Bellport Plein Air by the Bay, a paintout open to all artists. Unfortunately the day was dreary and damp, with light mist and showers. There was no rain date. 

I found a fairly covered sheltered area that had a view of some of the boats docked in the marina. I sketched out the scene and then went to do a wash of grey color for the sky...the paper absorbed every bit of the water and would not dry! If I tried adding any additional color to the paper it bled and faded. The humidity really made it super difficult to get anything to look like anything other than a faded grey. I waited and waited but the drying time was really slow. I decided to try and do the pencil lines over in ink and that worked a little better, allowing me to isolate some of the colors on the boats. I worked on this for about 2 hours before deciding that I would have to do stronger colors at home once the paper dried. So this is not officially a complete plein air painting. I punched up the color and added the reflections in the water. Since the weather was so difficult for painting all the artists were told that they could work on their paintings more at home from their photos so I am not the only one who has added to the work they did on location.

The completed artwork is going to be on display and up for sale next Saturday at Bellport Day, a big celebration in town. There will be prizes for 1st place, 2nd, 3rd and best in show.

I haven't decided on a title yet...maybe "Bellport Grey." This painting is 8 x 10.

Post Morrow

 Last Sunday the South Bay Art Association finally had a meeting in person. In fact it was a "field trip" on a different day. Usually we meet on Wednesday evenings once a month and for most of the last year we have been doing Zoom general meetings. With things slowly opening up this visit to Post Morrow was planned for the weekend. 

The Post Morrow Foundation works to preserve the rural, cultural and historic character of the hamlet of Brookhaven and surrounding areas in Suffolk County, New York. This includes undeveloped areas to be kept in their natural state as a sanctuary and open space or natural garden. We were scheduled to have a tour of the property which includes trails and a boardwalk along the creek. Unfortunately the guide never showed up or contacted anyone. That was a bit of a disappointment, but I hadn't planned on taking the tour because it involved too much walking for me right now. Instead we had a short meeting and someone in the group led the way around the property. We were asked to bring art materials and do a piece of art while we were there. Quite a few members remained and painted.

I've sketched at Post Morrow several times. This piece turned out too green for me. I should have used the sketchers as my center of interest and made them larger and just did some of the greenery as the background. But here is my sketch/painting from the day.

Several members took photos and here is one of me working on my sketch.

And here is Krystle, who is the President of the South Bay Art Association taking a photo of my work for social media. Krystle is one of the great photographers in the group.

Lefty Lucy & Zoom Sketches

 Tuesday night Lefty Lucy posed for us. I liked her outfit which seemed to have designs of big cats on it. So how to do such a pattern??? Simplify! I couldn't tell what she was wearing on her head until the last sketch. It was some sort of bandana.

These are 10 minute sketches.

This is her final pose which lasts 20 minutes.

Wednesday night the South Bay Art Association had their monthly general meeting on Zoom. That is also the night that the Patchogue Sketch Club meets and they usually join together since some people are members of both groups. During the meeting everyone got to talk about what they have been doing lately with their art and some of the attendees were working on art while listening. That's what I did, but I was busy sketching the participants. Things were going fine until there was some screen sharing and I couldn't focus on a close view of the people. Then my Zoom audio started crackling so I switched from my laptop to my iPad. That gave me really small images to work from, but I kept going. Here is what I was able to sketch.

Inktober Day 11 - South Bay String Band

 Yesterday the South Bay Art Association held an art event called "Discover the Arts." It was held on the grounds of the Bellport Historical Society and we had 21 vendors of assorted kinds of art. It was nice to be able to finally have an outdoor art event after having everything cancelled for months. Our association always has a 4th of July art event and couldn't have it this year. The property was big enough to have the vendor's tents spread out and social distancing and safety precautions were followed. Everyone entering had to wear masks. In addition to the visual artists the South Bay String Band came to perform. I always bring my sketching materials so I sat down to capture the band at play (pardon the pun).

Zoom Sketches

The South Bay Art Association had a Zoom meeting tonight for members to get together and talk and share what they have been up to. I am on the Board and we hope it will be a way for everyone to feel connected since it has been so long since we've been able to have any real kind of meeting. While people were talking I tried to sketch some of the members. I got a few likenesses, but not many. For some strange reason I thought I was using one pen and it turned out to be a ballpoint pen instead. Then I used a Sketch and Wash pencil over it for shading...without the wash. They are small but it was fun to do. I probably sketched for about an hour and a half. Some people I couldn't do because of the way they had their computer or tablet or phone situated...and I couldn't get a full view of them. Of course they didn't sit still either which wasn't helpful. 

Visitors & Exhibit

Down the hall from Jerry's room is a small library. I think it is used more for little gatherings with family than as a place to read. There are about 5 tables. This group was gathered for quite a while, so I was able to sketch all of them except one young man who was sitting in the empty chair. He went off to get lunch for the group. 

#momentsketchers

Today was the reception for the South Bay Art Association's "Women in the Arts" exhibit in Patchogue at The Cheese Patch. We timed it perfectly by having the reception on International Women's Day. Here are a few photos from the reception.

Some of the talented ladies who were part of the exhibit.

Gisella Scogland, Me & Laurie Fosmire

Senator Monica R. Martinez (center) with our SBAA President Krystle DiNicola. The Senator gave out certificates of appreciation to all the women who participated in the exhibit.

A Change of Pace

The South Bay Art Association, of which I am the secretary, met last night. We try to have some activity or demo for our members several times a year. Last night there was an interactive demo on creating a design in poured acrylic resin. 

Basically the glass was glued to the picture frame itself so that the resin wouldn't leak out when it was poured on the front of the glass. The frame glass was coated with a layer of the resin. We were provided with assorted silk flowers and objects that could be arranged into a design in the resin. One of the ladies at my table brought along some fresh herbs (tarragon, rosemary and thyme) to also use in our designs. Once the design was complete we poured the remaining resin over the objects, some of which were sticking up out of the resin making the design 3-D. It was really amazing at the end of the activity to see 24 completely unique designs from basically the same materials. Here is mine.

Here are photos of a few other pieces.

Inktober Day 28 - Day of the Dead Character

One of my art groups, the South Bay Art Association was supposed to have a demo the other night but due to illness the woman had to cancel, so the group had a "creative night" instead. It coincided with my Wednesday night Patchogue Sketch Group so we had a number of people show up with art materials. The husband of one of the members dressed first as a ghost (I missed that pose.) and then in his Day of the Dead mask. I was late to the meeting because I was at a political fundraiser for a friend. By the time I chatted with everyone I only caught the last pose. Here is Rob posing for my Inktober Day 28 sketch.

#inktober

#inktober2019

Vinyl Painting 2

The deadline for the vinyl record paintings is while I will be away so I made sure to finish my second painting so I can hand it in next week. Sunflowers always make me smile. This one was also done with acrylics.

Vinyl Record Painting 1

The South Bay Art Association is having an exhibit of paintings done on vinyl records. Records were passed out to members and we were told to use any medium and any subject we want.  I discovered that vinyl isn't so easy to work with. I usually work with watercolors but I wasn't sure they would work on the vinyl. I decided to work with acrylics instead. First I covered the record with 2 coats of gesso followed by several coats of white acrylic before it covered the black of the record. I'm pretty happy with the way this came out...now on to the second one.