Oak Harbor's Holland Happening

It's just a coincidence that the first day of this year's Holland Happening in Oak Harbor falls on Queen's Day in the Netherlands, but perhaps it added to this year's festivities a bit.  Took in the crowd, the wooden shoe-making demonstrations, and kid's canal racing.  Beautiful day to share in Oak Harbor's celebration of its Dutch heritage.

Making wooden shoes.



Victoria Memories

I was in Victoria when the Sketchers went on the La Conner field trip. So I conjured up a memory of the flower fields and sketched it.

Here are a couple of sketches from our fabulous visit to Victoria with wonderful friends.

How to walk the dog and still keep a smile on your face on a rainy day in Victoria

Boats and bridges in Victoria

Tulips, Christianson's Nursery, Winery Oh my!

Whatta day! Drawing the vibrant tulips in the car because of high winds. Finding shelter at delightful and many faceted Christianson's Nursery. I found myself drawn to the gift shop that looked and felt like something out of the way past. Comforting. Then to be hosted by the Anacortes group at the sweet winery! And if that wasn't enough...out to dinner at the Brew Pub. What a delightful day!

La Conner fun

 A day off having fun with the Sketchers!  My life these days has been following a roller over the walls of the new Whidbey Art Gallery, (www.whidbeyartists.com )we are opening in Langley.  I made an appointment to have some fun and sketch in our lovely La Conner. Brunch at the Farmhouse Restaurant, Tulip Fields Christiansen's Nursery, Wine Bar and then a delicious burger. Thank you to our lovely hostess's from Anacortes for the most wonderfully organized day.  They excelled in making us feel special!

Primary colors

Lap Cat & Dee

I was trying to sketch with a calligraphy pen???

Tulip Time Across the Water

I love our sketching field trips.  Thanks to the Anacortes Sketchers for organizing our joint outing where sketchers from 3 islands converged on the Skagit Valley yesterday.

Work caused me to miss the tulip fields yesterday morning so I included a watercolor sketch I did at home last night looking down into the middle of a fading tulip from last weekend's visit to the fields.

I joined the group at Hellams Vineyards' wonderful tasting room in LaConner.  What fun to sketch and gab and taste wine.  Cheers!

La Conner Field Day

McLean Road Tulips

Yesterday was the much awaited - Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and joint summit of Anacortes Sketchers and Whidbey Island Sketchers! The wind and rain put a bit of a crimp in our tulip field sketching plans, but we each got in a sketch or two from the shelter of our cars.

House plants at Christianson's Nursery

We moved on to Christianson's Nursery for some indoor sketching. Being a lazy sketcher, I settled into a comfy rocking chair in an out-of-the-way corner and just drew what was before me. I was comfortable, but missed out on all the vibrant colors everyone else was capturing. Green with envy, I guess. Nyuk, nyuk.

Wine display at Hellam's Vineyard

Onward to Hellam'sVineyard where we enjoyed the hospitality of the lovely and talented Anacortes Sketchers. We love our sister sketchers to the North!

"Slice of Lisbeth" at Hellam's

The lovely Faye!

Pat drove us home.

Looking up at Toby's

As usual, got more sketching done at Apres-Sketching this week than I did during scheduled sketching. I spent the evening looking up.

Toby-wear hanging from the ceiling

Sherryl fixed my black brush pen, which has not been working right since I put in a new cartridge in weeks ago. She's so handy. So I finally got my "black" on again which allows me to overwork my sketches to the max.

Julie's Mosquito Fleet Chili

Julie's view from our table at Mosquito Fleet Chili.

Mosquito Fleet Chili

The bowling alley was a bust as a sketching venue this week. Way too crowded and noisy. Apparently Wednesday is teen leagues day. So we moved to the quieter, more comfortable and delicious Mosquito Fleet Chili. Only 4 of us showed up for sketching this week, which was a nice intimate little group. We all loved our lunches of mussel chowder, quiche, salad and cookies all served up by the lovely and gracious  proprietress, Rita.

Julie's Man Cave Sketches

Axe, wood stove and some big boots to fill

Props from "Singin' in the Rain?"

Looking at Julie's sketches from Elliott's place, one's imagination runs wild. Who is this guy?

Julie took liberties with the phone color

Very small New York sketches

I traveled very lightly this trip, only a small moleskin, my Lamy, brown Noodler's Ink and a tiny bit of color.

Spring trees in Union Square from the second floor of Whole Foods.

Bumpy subway sketches!

Just people, sometimes standing room only.

Good practice in inconspicuous sketching... feet were interesting,

but they didn't stay around long.

A little piece of color from the snack bar at the

Guggenheim looking out at Central Park. Spring!

Wednesday Evening at Toby's

Work prevented me from getting to our regular afternoon sketching meet-up, but I managed to hook up with three from the group for some post-sketching sketching at Toby's over wine and calamari.

A view of the bar from the back table.



Sat in the corner table looking right up at the giant moose head on the wall.  Fun perspective.

Sketching in the sun in VA

I sat outside on the sidewalk across the street from the kid's 

and sketched until it got too HOT to stay out there.  Hmm, Toto.

Not in Kansas anymore.  Things in bloom - cherry trees, azaleas,

dogwoods (pink and white), daffodils, tulips, violets and lilacs.

Kids in the sprinkler, songbird singing their hearts out and 

HUGE bumbles.  It all feels so nice.

Chez Elliott

Sketchers on the Porch

The sketchers were in 7th heaven at Elliott Menashe's Bat-chelor Cave. It was a veritable feast of sketchable stuff, rustic charm, quirky collectibles, cobwebs, cookies, coffee and tea -- all served up by a most generous and engaging host. We'll definitely be back for more!

Elliott's Hats & Coats on Parade

Elliott's Recliner with Fire Wood

Sketching at Elliott's

Sitting out under the BIG tree, enjoying the birds, the skunk cabbage and Elliott's wonderful house.

Warm, cozy man cave

Thanks to Elliott for allowing us to invade his cozy, warm, busy home. There was so much to see and to sketch. It is a sketcher's paradise! And I was reminded of my childhood home and of my grandma's house (except for the skulls....we didn't have so many skulls, though we did have antlers). Not only that ,he served coffee and cookies! It was a delightful day in a home full of treasures.

Elliott's Found Glass

These old bottles were found on the property.  The colors are different and delicate.

In Defense of the Single Line

A fellow sketcher whose name shall not be mentioned (but her initials are S.U.E.) calls me "One Line Lisbeth" because of my tendancy to use only single ink lines.  While multiple lines add nice depth, there are times when one line can do it.  Here - an homage to the single line and my new Lamy fountain pen. 

Elliott's Eclectic Collection

Today Elliott opened his home to give the sketchers a wonderful opportunity to sketch his eclectic collection of interesting items and art objects he has collected through the years. We all had a fun time and a great opportunity to use our drawing/painting skills to create fun sketches of the objects. His home is comfortable and a creation of love and art.

This is a viewing tower looking over Saratoga Passage and Everett.
His garden shed roof is covered with lichen/moss and has a ton more objects around it that I could not possibly sketch in a short time.
A collection of well worn shoes and books and other items on top the shelf. Phyllis' real foot got into the sketch while she was sitting nearby sketching.
This is my favorite spot in the old house. It's a stairwell that evidently was added after the house had been built. Under the stairwell is a passage to the study with storage shelves underneath. One has to stoop to pass under the stairwell to the room beyond.