Orchid Show & Walled Garden

Last Friday I joined a group of artist friends at the Planting Fields Arboretum State Park in Oyster Bay. It is a former Gold Coast estate which belonged to the family of William Robertson Coe since 1913. The grounds and mansion are really lovely.

There was an orchid show going on and we roamed around that taking lots of photos, and some of my friends bought orchid plants. I resisted because I don't have the light to grow anything indoors, so it would be a waste for me. Here are a few of the gorgeous orchids we saw.

Next we headed over to the walled garden behind the Tea House. I have been to this arboretum several times and this was the first time the tea house was open to the public. It was designed by Elsie de Wolfe and there are murals and art decorating the walls, the furniture and the lights.

Finally we did get to paint in the garden. Right now the trees inside the garden and outside were in glorious bloom, so I tried to include some of that with a view toward one of the side gates. 

Pink Tulips

Somehow these poor tulips never got photographed and uploaded when I did this.

My husband, Jerry bought me a tulip plant for Easter and the stems and flowers were all curled and wild. I really liked the way it looked but for the painting I sort of straightened them a bit so they would all fit on one page. lol Aren't they pretty?

This is 5 x 7.

Brown Barn with Forsythia

I just love this time of year when the forsythia is in bloom. If I catch sight of a patch of yellow out of the corner of my eye, I have to check it out. lol This bush happened to be right in front of a rustic looking barn...right up my alley. This is about 3 x 5.

Flo's in Patchogue

I have sketched Flo's in Rocky Point several times in the last few years. It is an outdoor local fried seafood place with outdoor umbrellas and only outdoor picnic tables. It is seasonal and a fun place to go. The owners decided to also open a year-round location in Patchogue, and it opened very recently. The Patchogue Sketch Club met there the other night. No picnic tables inside but you still go up to the counter to order your food and the menu for the most part is the same with a few new additions. You can sit outside at outdoor picnic tables but we were having heavy rain while we were there. It was a good indoor location for sketching and I focused on a few people ordering at the counter. The big "Flo's" sign is actually on the floor right there, 

Sketches for Paint, Paper, Pencils & Pens

I am still contributing to the blog over on "Paint, Paper, Pencils & Pens" (link on the right). Some of the recent sketches have been shown here but there are a few that I didn't post.

Our theme at the end of April had been "Humans And the Things They Do".

This is a sketch I did from a photo I took at my Mike & Rachel's wedding about a year ago.

Mike is one of my nephews who live in California. This is tiny...about 3 x 4.

For the same theme I used a photo my sister, Mickey had posted of her and her newest grandchild, Mary. I love the "sleeping" positions babies can get into. Again this is about 3 x 4.

This man reading was done from a photo I took in France.

For the beginning of the month of May our new theme is "Animals."

The baby lamb was done from a photo I had taken in Ireland last year.

The cow was also done from one of my photos of Ireland.

Portrait Day

The South Bay Art Association's Portrait Group had Mary as a model this week.

I finished my portrait of Mary before everyone else was done, so I decided to do a sketch of the sketchers and painters working. This was done in my Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook.

Sky Views

The other day I was in the car and the sky was just so great that I headed down by the water where there were fewer things to block the view. This was done from the parking lot of Lands End in Sayville.

But one was not enough. I finished the first one and did a second one.

These are about 4 x 5.