Brooklyn's Best Baking Company

 I drove up to St James on Saturday for a craft fair...it wasn't great. Luckily I happened to see a post the other day about a new bakery/coffee shop that recently opened up there so I took the address with me to check it out and see if it had sketching potential. Brooklyn's Best Baking Company at 420 Lake Ave, St. James was a delight! The display cases included bite-sized portions of cheesecakes in about 6 different varieties, cookies, scones, carrot cake, brownies, cupcakes, etc. It was so hard to choose! I had a coffee and a piece of carrot cake which was the first thing I sketched on my page (after I had a bite because I couldn't wait). They have a small area with tables for seating. My thanks to the friendly staff that didn't question why I was there for so long. I couldn't leave before buying something else to have after dinner tonight. FYI they do make larger sizes if you are interested. I think it is a good thing that they aren't closer to where I live.

I'm trying to do some of the USk December 2025 Prompts and this fit the list as a "coffee Shop."

Brewport at the Sachem Library

Luckily I've found that most of the local libraries have small cafes where you can get coffee and a snack. It was a rainy day so I headed over to the Brewport Cafe at the Sachem Library, which is actually my local library. There was an interesting counter, a barista with red hair, and lots of details to include. I stayed dry, had a coffee and a crumb cake cookie. Yum!

 

Bagel Express

 Last week I drove a friend to her cataract surgery appointment at Stony Brook Hospital. I had some time before I needed to be back to pick her up. I headed over to Bagel Express in East Setauket. They not only made a delicious egg on a bagel, but it was a great place to sketch. I couldn't pass up a hanging bicycle over the coffee station! 

Island Dreams Coffee

We had a warm, but rainy day recently. I headed over to the Bayport-Blue Point Library where Island Dreams Coffee is located. When I arrived it was closed and the sign said it would reopen at 3:00. That was fine by me because there was nobody blocking my view of the counter. A young woman from the local high school arrived at 3:00 and opened the cafe for business. By that time there were other people waiting for coffee. I hadn't left room for the young woman but found that I could fit her in behind the pastry display. lol I did have a coffee, but I find it very annoying that they don't have any brewed decaf coffee available. I find that in a lot of places.

Ace Hotel's Bar Area

 The NYC Urban Sketchers were scheduled to meet at a fashion exhibit at FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology) for our sketching location last week. Unfortunately when we got there we found out that we couldn't use stools, backpacks had to be hand-held, and only dry media could be used in this very DARK exhibit. We are adaptable and the organizers offered another location...the Ace Hotel. A few of the sketchers stayed to sketch standing in the dark, but my travel buddy, Suzala and I checked out the exhibit and then headed to the Ace Hotel which was a few blocks away. Many members of our group were already there working.

There was a nice hotel lobby with comfy seating, but it was fairly dark. Off to the side was the entrance to Koloman, their lovely contemporary French restaurant that was very European in feeling. I went in to scope it out and found Leslie sitting at the bar with her coffee and pastry. She was busy sketching the bar area. As long as we ordered something they were fine with us staying in the front of the bar area which had a huge window that overlooked the street. It also had a ledge all across the window which provided a good space to work. 

I started sketching Leslie, who was now joined by Elaine. The waiter took my order and before I could finish my first sketch, my coffee and this delicious croissant with jam and butter was delivered. It made such a great subject that I had to sketch that too...but quickly so I could eat the croissant! So I switched and started sketching the croissant on another page leaving space for the rest of the presentation. As soon as I had the croissant sketched, I moved back to the sketch of the sketchers because I know people, even sketchers, tend to move after a while. They were now joined by a random person not affiliated with our group, but I included him too.

Then I moved back to the food setup and added in the plates, jam, butter, and cutlery.

While I had the street view in front of me I decided to paint the building right across from us...some sort of construction was going on there with workers going in and out, but that is the fun of sketching NYC.

Our group in the bar area changed as people joined us and left us for the lobby. This photo was taken by my friend, Suzala of some of us ladies that were sketching and chatting about all kinds of things. We had a great time together!

Left to right: Me, Leslie, Shawne, Elaine and Kim.

Panera Sketch

 On one of our recent cold days I wanted to sketch indoors, not from my mobile studio. I headed over to the Panera in Bohemia. It is set up so that I can get a view of the counter and the people ordering. Of course I got there and nobody was at the counter, so I started with the people sitting at the table on the left and made sure to leave space for people when they went to the counter to order. It worked. There was a bigger pillar with stones and a coffee bar set up there, but I used artistic license to move that because it would take up too much space. All of this was done directly in ink.

Flux Coffee #1

 Somehow I missed posting this sketch done at Flux Coffee in Farmingdale the first time we went. It was a bitterly cold day before we were leaving for the trip to Atlanta. Suzala and I wanted to sketch but needed an indoor location, so we started Googling all the coffee shops anywhere between her house and my house. I found Flux Coffee and Suzala checked with her daughter who apparently goes there quite often. We met there and Becca joined us. It was a nice spot to sketch...enough tables and quite a few people. That's Becca (on the left) and Suzala (on the right). 

Rainy Day Sketching

 We have some nice views out our windows. I sketched this the other day and added color yesterday when it was raining out. Staying in for part of the day gave me time to work on this.

I had gone out in the morning to the market and brought home something yummy. There was a nice, colorful plate to use too.

In the afternoon around 4:00 I noticed the rain had stopped. Things were still very wet so my plan was to sketch inside the Basillica di Santa Maria Della Salute. It was built in the 1600s to thank the Blessed Mother for allowing Venice to survive the plague. The center of the Basillica is roped off and there are no pews in the center. Instead services are held in smaller chapels around the perimeter. While I was sketching there was a Mass taking place across the way. I focused on the Altare Dell’ Assunta. The painting, The Assumption of the Virgin Mary over the altar was done by Luca Giordano in 1667.

Inktober 2022 - Day 24 - Panera Sketches

 Today was a rainy day so I decided to sketch from an indoor location. We don't have too many coffee houses around unless you count the endless Starbucks. I headed to the Panera Bread in Bohemia. I haven't sketched there in a long time but I know there are good views of the counter area from some of the booths in the front. Since I was there anyway I grabbed a bagel to go with my cup of coffee that I milked for the duration of my sketch time.  I am usually not prepared to sketch my food, but since I had everything I needed (except water to make the ink bleed). I sketched this with my Lamy pen filled with Noodler's brown ink. I ended up putting a bit of coffee on the plate instead of water. It worked!

My original aim was to sketch the actual restaurant which I did while I was munching on my bagel. I think it helps to have food to eat while I sketch. I'm much more patient that way. lol So today I am giving you a double Inktober.

Coffee Time

When I was in Bellport the other day I noticed a new place to have coffee...at the Bellport Apothecary. Looks like a fun spot. 

Coffee Time

I am hosting the current WetCanvas Scavenger Hunt. Two of the items on my list are "something from my kitchen" and "metal." I combined the two in a still life. This also fits for the #30x30DirectWatercolor Challenge.

Coffee Break

Yesterday after painting the dune view down by the beach I decided to stop for a coffee. I also needed a ladies room so it was a good decision all around. I'm so glad that there was a nice, "non-Starbucks" coffee shop in Jamesport. I brought along my materials just in case there was a nice view for a sketch...and there was. I give you Hampton Coffee. Even their logo was cute.

The Bean

We had a damp, rainy morning on Thursday and I needed to go out sketching somewhere. I called one of my friends and we met at a new coffee shop in Patchogue called The Bean. It has become very popular and was fairly crowded. We had a hard time finding a place to sit and sketch.

Starbucks

My sketch group met at Starbucks recently. It is fun to capture some of the people who settle down with their coffee and a chat.

This lady was from one of our local military groups.

Please hop over and see what is happening on my aquarium journal today.

http://aliciasaquariumjournal.blogspot.com/2016/04/alicias-aquarium-journal-april-9.html