By the Pier

 I'm always looking for views to sketch. I love how the gulls pose on top of the pilings by the dock. This one cooperated and stayed in one spot for a long time. This was done by Mascot Dock in Patchogue.

Snow Along the Canal

There are a few canals in Blue Point. This one runs through a small park near Flo's. I was able to park right along the side of it. There was a woman sitting next to her car and feeding the gulls so I quickly sketched a few of them into the scene while they were swooping down to grab what she was tossing.

Over on CreativeSpark there was an interesting item for the scavenger hunt. We had to find a playing card and sketch the numbered side as well as the back of the card. I dug out a very old deck of cards. From what I remember I got these the first time I flew anywhere. It was maybe 1968/1969 when I was all of 20 years old. A friend and I flew out to CA, stayed with her cousin and his family for a few days, and then drove up the CA coast. Neither of us could legally rent a car on our own and her dad rented one for us, but Suzanne had to do all the driving. The trip was a lot of fun and we met two sailors on a cable car in San Francisco. We hung out together all day and then the next day they took us on a tour of their aircraft carrier. We also went horseback riding and I was thrown off my horse. (And I have never climbed back on another one to this day.) At the time the airlines gave you all kinds of things when you were on board if you asked. I got the deck of cards. The box is really worn and I'm not sure if all the playing cards are still inside, but it was fun to sketch one of the cards.

 

Long Island Maritime Museum Fundraiser

A few years ago I participated in a fundraiser for the Long Island Maritime Museum. They had local artists paint on pieces of shingles that had blown off their boathouse during one of our big storms. Right before I left for Venice I was contacted and found out that they were doing another fundraiser. I took some shingles to work on but ran out of time to get them done. I thought I missed the deadline but last week I found out that the fundraiser was going to be held starting this coming weekend. I decided to participate and I did three paintings this time. The largest is 17 1/2 x 4 1/2 (the second one down). The other two are about 11 x 4 each.

Here is some information about the fundraiser. I dropped my pieces off today and some of the wonderful work by the other artist was already on display.

 

Birds Watching

Birds have such great balance. I don't know if I would be happy sitting up there, but it gives them a good vantage point. If they see something that looks like food they're off! This was sketched at a small beach on the bay in Islip.

 

Hecksher State Park Views

 Hecksher State Park is a 1,657 acre on the Great South Bay in East Islip.Heckscher State Park is a 1,657-acre state park on the shore of the Great South Bay at East. It has beaches, boat ramps, picnic areas, walking trails, and even cabins to rent. I headed over there the other day because the sky finally wasn't the grey, dismal sky we've been seeing. One of the hunt items was a sky scape and there were finally some interesting clouds in the sky.

I was sitting in an area the was for boat washing, but I didn't think anyone would mind since there were no boats out in the cold. This gull didn't seem to mind either.

By the Beautiful Sea

I was down at Smith Point Beach at the end of Fire Island on Friday. It was a beautiful day, although too windy to sketch outside. The dunes and the water attracted me of course.

The gulls were right next to my car, so I sketched them too.

Driving to the beach there were a lot of deer at the entrance to the parking lot. They were pretty tame and were coming right up to the cars. We had a bit of a traffic jam. lol There were about a dozen deer in the area.

Gulls in a Row

It was a cold day so I knew I needed to use my mobile studio. I was hoping for waves at the beach, but even with  the wind there was no great surf. So I left the beach and headed over to the Mastic Marina where I saw this long row of gulls sitting. I approached very carefully with my car to make sure I didn't scare them off. I got three of them sketched before something commanded their attention and they took off.