Beach Bench

This was a quick sketch I did while sitting on the small beach in Sayville.

The beach is tiny so I can always get a view of someone sitting on one of the benches by the walkway. I love his typical summer pose.

Susan's Flowers

I am very lucky to have a good friend who has a beautiful garden in East Patchogue, and as soon as a new flower comes up Susan calls me to let me know. She called the other day to tell me her poppies were starting to bloom....so I was there in a flash. I did two small poppy paintings and one iris.

These are about 2 1/2 x 5. Thanks, Susan!!!

Patchogue Garden Sketch

Last Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club went to a small garden at the corner of Terry Street and South Ocean Avenue in Patchogue. It is maintained by the Patchogue Garden Club and they have done a really nice job on the plants and flowers. I sketched looking out of one the trellises at the edge of the park. I even caught Reu'ven sketching on the right of the picture.

Irises at the Arboretum

Last week I made a second visit to the Bayard Cutting Arboretum to find the irises that were in bloom. These purple beauties are so much fun to paint. These are small...the first one is 4 x 8 and the second one is 2 1/2 x 5.

Honoring Those Who Sacrificed

Today is Memorial Day here in the USA. For many it is a holiday with bbqs, or a day of shopping for that big sale, of just a day off from work. Many people forget that the day actually honors those who gave their lives in service to our country.

I planned to head to Sayville which usually has a lovely memorial service in Sparrow Park on Main Street. I checked the internet to find out what time I needed to be there and it said 11:00...but they were wrong. The service at the park was already over when I arrived, and I just barely caught the tail end of the service in front of the Sayville Fire Department. I sketched two members of the color guard in front of the property as well as the memorial wreath.

When the service was over I went over to the memorial in Sparrow Park and sketched that too.

My gratitude to those who fought for our rights and freedom, 

especially those who gave their lives for us. 

Rhodies

Last weekend I was at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale for the Wet Paints Member's Show which I was participating in. When the show was over I grabbed my paints and headed to paint something in bloom while I was there. Some of the rhododendrons were in bloom so I did them in watercolors and ink.

Garden Tour Sketches

My plein air group (PALS) is taking part in the Sayville Garden Tour next month. During the tour there will be artists from our group painting in each of the gardens. The garden club prints up a black & white brochure to hand out when people buy the tickets for the tours, and they asked if we could do a few small black & white sketches of each garden to go inside the brochure. So last week 6 of us met and did a quick sketchcrawl through the gardens.

Two of the gardens are at private condo units in the same complex. 

This was the front garden in one of them.

This garden had a lot of nooks with statues tucked among the flowers and foliage.

I thought the pig was cute.

This garden had a pond area with a fish that I think sprays water when it is up an running.

Most of the gardens were still being readied for the tour next month, so not all features were ready and with our weather many of the flowers were not in bloom yet.

This garden also had areas with statues and a water feature that was being prepped by the homeowner that day.
I did like the cherub on the pedestal.

There are 8 gardens in all, but I didn't get to sketch each one. It was very strange to be working on a sketch of a garden in black and white. I was itching to get at the color! lol