Direct Watercolors #25

 Last week I went painting with my plein air group to Lavender by the Bay in Calverton. The lavender was really blooming. I did 2 paintings, but the second one isn't quite finished. This is #25 for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge.

Lavender for Sale

 I liked the way Lavender by the Bay had their setup for sales displays...so I sketched it.

Lavender Field

Lavender is in bloom here! My plein air group went to Lavender by the Bay in Calverton for a morning of sketching. I did two paintings there, and posted the first one as part of the direct watercolor challenge. I love seeing the rows and rows of lavender stretching out before me. Lavender by the Bay now has two locations, this one in Calverton and the first property that we've sketched at before in East Marion. That one gets ridiculously crowded, but I think it is a little more scenic. I just love being surrounded by all the fragrance of the lavender.

 

Lavender

 I think one of the nicest fragrances is the smell of lavender. In the past I've sketched in a lavender field a few times with one of my art groups. Due to my surgery I missed the lavender when it was in bloom. For a recent Wet Canvas Scavenger Hunt we had to sketch something that smelled wonderful. I have a bunch of lavender that I bought at the lavender field a few years ago. The fragrance is no longer very strong but if you are close to it or more the sprigs a little you can still smell it and it makes me feel good.

For those of you who are curious, Hurricane Henri didn't hit us directly. The storm wasn't as bad as they predicted...just a lot of rain but so far no really strong winds. Apparently it made landfall in Rhode Island but is supposed to swirl back this way.  

A Seat in the Lavender Field

My plein air group was scheduled to go to Lavender By the Bay in East Marion this morning. Even though I didn't get back from Maine until last night I wasn't missing this great place for painting. I love going out in the huge lavender field and being surrounded by the fragrance. It is a very popular spot...in fact there was another art group painting there today in addition to all the regular customers.

This is my painting from today. I needs a little tweaking before I call it finished. I do like how I was able to capture the softness of the lavender color in the back near the fence. Of course I had to visit their shop and buy some lavender sachets and dried lavender too.

30 x 30 Direct Watercolor - Day 25

Today was another rainy day so I decided to do a still life for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge. I used my bottle of lavender lotion and my lavender sachet. It smelled great while I was painting.
#30x30directwatercolor #directwatercolor2019

Sayville View

We had another hot day today so I headed out early before it was too bad. My plein air was supposed to meet at a lavender field out east and it is one of my favorite places to paint. However the thought of being out there in the field with no shade convinced me to stay local. I headed into Sayville and found a view to sketch. The purple and blue hydrangeas were calling me. I still needed to have the AC on in the car to sketch. The rest of my day was spent at the pool. 

Lavender Field

My plein air group went to Lavender By the Bay in East Marion recently. I just love that place!!! The fragrance is wonderful and it is so pretty. It started off as a cloudy day and of course as soon as I got out in the field it started to sprinkle. lol I put up my plein air umbrella and continued painting. It was so humid the paper never seemed to dry. I used some kosher salt to make the patterns in the lavender.

Here is the view and the painting.

Lavender By the Bay

This is the second painting I did at Lavender By the Bay yesterday.

In the background is the store that sells all things lavender.

It is so relaxing and great smelling inside.

It makes you feel like you're in France.

Lavender Field

Today the PALS Plein Air painters met at Lavender By the Bay in East Marion on the north fork of Long Island. The English lavender is in bloom right now and really looks super.

Here is the first painting I did there today.

Painting at Lavender by the Bay

Yesterday my plein air group met at Lavender By the Bay in East Marion on the north fork of Long Island. Several of the artists had painted there before and I got mixed stories about how they liked it. I arrived at 9:30 am and fell in love with the views.

I usually paint sitting down, but a friend told me that it is hard to sit down and paint the lavender because you miss all the contours of the bushes and the shading of the rows because all you will see is the one big plant in front of you. So I took my easel which has been sitting unused lately. I set it up so it was flat and about waist high. I put a large piece of gaterboard on the easel and used that as my work surface. I was able to put my paper on the left, and my palette and brushes on the side. Here is the first view I painted across the field. This is 8 x 10.

Directly next to the view I was painting was a fenced area containing bee hives. I think they added a bit of interest for this painting. This is 5 x 7.

I forget that standing in one place is exhausing. lol So for the next painting I joined some of the other artists who were stitting under some trees to the right of the field. I sat on top of the picnic table and painted this view looking to the store. This is 5 x 7.

It was still early enough to get one more done. This was done standing by the fence see in the painting above. This is 5 x 7.

By this time it was 3:00 and I had been painting for 5 1/2 hours. lol So I quit painting and did some shopping. The store was wonderful with dried lavender sachets, soaps, fresh lavender, etc. And when the young man at the register wrapped my sachet purchases they were done so pretty that now I don't want to unwrap them. He used bright yellow tissue paper that he stapled at the bottom and then tied at the top with a yellow bow and a tiny sprig of lavender.

Can you tell that I just loved this place?

I forget that standing