Snow Painting

When the roads seemed like they would be clear enough I took a ride down to Sayville figuring it was a good opportunity to paint snow from my mobile studio. The problem was finding a location where I had a nice view and could also park. Because of the amount of snow the town was still busy plowing the secondary roads so many of the small parking areas weren't touched yet. I did find a spot that was out of the way of local traffic and was a street wide enough for another car to pass me if necessary. Look how blue the sky was!

Snowy Road to the Marina

A friend of mine lives in Brookhaven and there is a small, private marina near her house. I've painted there with her several times. This time I headed over there while the snow was still on the ground. Due to the cold weather the snow isn't melting, so I have been able to paint a few snow scenes. I sat in my mobile studio outside the entrance to the marina. I didn't want to go in and take the chance of getting stuck in the snow...and besides I like being able to see the tracks that are already there. 

Lamppost & Tree Bark

 These sketches fit items on the current Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt. It included a lamppost. Right now it is difficult to find a lamppost in any of the local towns that doesn't have some kind of decoration.

Another item was tree bark. I was near the Bayard Cutting Arboretum so I scooted in. Where else would it be easy to find an interesting tree? Both of the sketches here were done from the warmth of my mobile studio...it has been really windy and cold here lately.

Holbrook House

We had a lot of very cold days recently so if I went out I was painting indoors or from my mobile studio. This house is directly across the street from my church, Good Shepherd. I sat in the driveway of the grounds pulled all the way over so I was out of the way. I'm always attracted to the trellis in front of the house. 

Antique Store

 I've passed this antique store in Oakdale many, many times and have always thought about sketching it. The problem is it is in a strip mall, and there is never a good spot to sit and sketch it. When I passed the other day there were a few parking spaces across from the store so I backed my car in so that I was facing it. It was too cold to sit outside but using my "mobile studio" worked well. I was surprised at the amount of traffic that went through that door while I was there. Of course before I finished someone came out and moved things around and took a few items into the store.

Islip View

 What can be more fun than sitting and sketching the view in front of you? I sat in my mobile studio and started on the right side of the page sketching down to the building with the clock on it. Then I sketched coming back up the left side of the page. Of course I had to include a few cars in this sketch of Islip...both closeups and a few in the distance. Add a few signs and wires and the sketch is complete.

Sayville Coffee Spot

I guess I'm on a coffee theme. This was sketched from my new mobile studio (a Toyota Rav 4) while sitting along Main Street in Sayville. The Sayville Bean always has people coming in and out so a spot out front is always a prime location.

For those of you who had noticed, somehow I lost track and missed posting here for about 5/6 days. I did go back and post something for the days I missed, so if you are so inclined you can check out those posts. I am now on track again.

 

Snowy Scene

 Just in time for Christmas we had a bit of snow that stuck for a little while. I was headed to Nassau County to meet friends for lunch, but I had planned my day so I had some extra time to do some sketching before we met. I parked my new "mobile studio" in the parking lot of a local garden and painted as the snow was falling. By the afternoon the snow had melted, but it was nice to capture it while it was around.

Jamesport Country Store

 The Jamesport Country Store is a fixture on the North Fork of Long Island. It has been there for as long as I can remember. I was inside many years ago, and it seemed to have a bit of everything. If it isn't inside it must be in the collection of odd things outside the store, like the bicycle built for two. I've wanted to sketch there for a while but there never seems to be any parking in front. I found a spot recently and sat in my mobile studio long enough to do this entire sketch. A man kept coming back and forth between the store and his old truck, carrying things. I guess he was the owner or manager. After several trips he came over and asked if I was OK or if I needed anything. I showed him what I was doing but he seemed puzzled by that and just walked away. lol

Catching Up

 With the holiday excitement there are a few sketches that never got posted.

Avocados in a Mexican-American Grill in Bayport. It was a cold day for sketching so my mobile studio came in very handy. Haven't tried the restaurant yet.

Here are two sketches done for the Scavenger Hunt at Creativespark.art...

an angel

and a poinsettia done in red ballpoint pen.

Out With the Old - In With the New

 Yesterday was New Year's Eve and although it was a dreary, wet day I had to go out to pick up a painting from an exhibit in Patchogue. While I was out I decided to do a sketch. I found this view of the back of some buildings and sat in my "mobile studio" to sketch. At times I did have to put the wipers on to see the view. So here is my last painting of 2022.

2023 arrived today and luckily the weather was much more cooperative. It was sunny and mild (somewhere around 55 degrees) and I headed to one of my favorite places...Robert Moses State Park where the Fire Island Lighthouse is located. It is amazing to me to see the number of people who come here on January 1 each year. The boardwalk to the lighthouse was crowded with people and many of them had their dogs with them. I walked to the lighthouse which I believe is just under a mile. There were a lot of people outside, a long line to climb to the top (no way for me) and they were giving out free hot cocoa and cookies to the visitors. I parked myself against the railing in front of the lighthouse and sketched some of the people. I was able to sit down for a while when someone vacated a bench, so I was able to comfortably add watercolors. This is my first sketch of 2023. When I walked up to the window to get some cocoa the ladies there wanted to see what I had sketched and asked me to post it to their FB page.

On the walk back to the parking area I found a bench facing the lighthouse and did a small painting. This is the last page in this particular sketchbook which I started back in 2014. The paper is definitely not meant for wet media, but it is small and fit in my bag. A family came along and the kids were really interested in watching me paint. The parents asked if I minded and I said no. It was really nice talking to all of them. One little girl loves art and asked if she could see the other sketches in the book. The mom had majored in art in college but hasn't sketched or painted anything in a long time since she's so busy raising her family. I told her to find time, even if it is only a few minutes, and do something art related for herself. It was a nice way to spend the day and share my art on the 1st day of the year.

Lighthouse

 We had a few days where the temperatures were above normal. Thursday it was in the mid 50s so I headed over to Robert Moses State Park where the Fire Island Lighthouse is located. Although it was sunny and warm it was a bit too windy to sit out and sketch, so I positioned my mobile studio so I was facing the lighthouse in the distance, rolled down the windows and enjoyed sketching.

At the Dunes

We had one day last week (before this icy weather) where the temperature hit the mid 50s...that's beach weather in the winter. So I hopped in my mobile studio and went to Robert Moses State Park. As always there were a lot of people there, mostly taking walks to the lighthouse. I went to the dunes at the very end of the boardwalk to sketch. It was too windy to actually paint outside my mobile studio but I did enjoy getting out of the car when I was finished and enjoying the fresh air.

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.

Inktober Day 25

 There is an area in Oakdale that was once part of an artist's colony. It has these quaint brick buildings but unless you live there you don't have anywhere to park. I roamed around there the other day and found a small parking area around the back of one of the buildings. This part is called Tower Mews. I sat in my mobile studio (just in case I wasn't allowed to park there) and sketched that way. I use the Noodler's brown ink for this sketch.

Local Businesses

 For the current Wet Canvas Scavenger Hunt one of the items is a storefront. I stopped at a small, local strip mall here in Holbrook and captured Tailgaters and New Century Kitchen. This was sketched from my mobile studio.

Relaxing

 I tend to gravitate to the same locations over and over and Sayville Beach Park is one of those places. This time I was in my mobile studio facing the tennis courts. There were some young boys hanging around with their bikes. When I first started the sketch there were three boys, but of course one of them had to get up and start riding around. These two pretty much sat still until I had sketched them and then all three of them were zooming around the tennis courts on their bikes. (Off to my left blocked by a few SUVs they were setting up chairs for an outdoor wedding facing the water. I'm sure it would have been nice to sketch but I couldn't hang around that long.)

Smithtown Historical Society

I hadn't been to the Smithtown Historical Society in over a year, so I took a drive up there the other day. Done from my "mobile studio." 

Snow at the Preserve

 I kept sketching the snow while it still looked good. This was done from my mobile studio at Swan River Preserve in Patchogue.

Out With the Old - In With the New

 Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a joyful, healthy, safe, and loving 2021!

Even if we haven't had the greatest year, I think most of us have learned to be more appreciative of what we have and not take our loved ones for granted. Celebrate what you can and when you can.

Here is my last sketch of 2020 done at Lake Ronkonkoma of the view across the lake.

Here is my first sketch of 2021. If I am not visiting family or friends somewhere for the holiday I try to get down to the ocean on New Year's Day. I went to Robert Moses State Park where the Fire Island Lighthouse stands. There are always so many people who have the same idea as me. I enjoy seeing so many families out enjoying the day together. 

There are also always people who come down to the beach and celebrate the new year with food and drinks, often tailgating from their cars. This group looked like they were enjoying each other's company. They visited for quite a while (of course not quite long enough for me to finish the entire sketch, but luckily I took a photo just in case). I hope they were safe being with each other. Although they were outdoors and probably far enough apart, they weren't wearing face coverings. Of course I was safe in my "mobile studio" away from them.