Sketching at Barbara Barry's house

It is always so much fun to sketch at Barbara's beautiful home full of eclectic things. Wonderful things to draw! And wonderful things on which to much!!! I painted away, trying to capture the "still life with crow", and was doing well til Pat Brookes took away my pens. "NO INK LINES", quoth she. So this is what is left, with no link lines. I can't say I agree with her assessment. I am pretty sure it needs lines, but I have moved on . . . . 

 . . . I did this one of the "squashed squash" in retaliation.

Playing catch-up

Here are a couple of DjangoFest sketches . . .

and one drawn during Django of the edible garden at City Hall. The best part of which was meeting sculptor John Alsip and his wife Kay, visiting from their new home in New Mexico. Since I felt I was meeting true Langley celebrity, I even got his autograph!

Pluviophile, a new word describing our feelings yesterday

Someone who finds joy and peace of mind on rainy days.  This leads to petrichor (n) The smell of earth after rain.  I guess we know what we like!  Yesterday was a blissful sharing of good food, beautiful still life, friends and sketching.

Aren't they gorgeous!

SQUASH season!

Eat your heart out Van Gogh, these are from Trader Joes!

More Django 2014

I went back for a second helping of Django sketching on Saturday. Ended up talking with a Django groupie who filled me in on all the after hours and all night jam session locations. Apparently the real fun begins after the WICA performances let out around midnight.

All about that bass

SW Commons

Useless Bay Coffee Company

Sketching seasonal still life at Barb's..

The atmosphere was cozy and warm on this rainy day; Sherryl brought a Mexican platter to share and Judi brought her deviled eggs.  Around 8 of us sketched wonderful gourds, skulls, flowers, and more!

Autumnal Feast at Barb's House

I must admit I went a little crazy at Barb's Autumnal Feast. The feast for the eyes just wouldn't let my sketching hand stop! The feast in the kitchen was too good to resist. And, of course, the Sketchers themselves are always delicious. The house was warm and cozy, the conversation lively, the still lifes sumptuous, and I must say I left sated on every level. Thanks to Sherryl for the brilliant idea of getting a party platter from Patron. Thanks to Barb for making her home so welcoming and warm. And certainly thanks to the Sketchers for just being who they are. And Happy Birthday Dave!

Autumn Sketching at My House

Autumnal Crow

On Thursday I was sitting at my office in Seattle, and Phyllis called my cell phone.  "Barb!  It's urgent ... we need a place to sketch!  It's gonna be raining, and it's gonna be a small sketcher group.  Faye's in Tuscany, Mary's in Paris, others are yonder ... and we need a cozy comfy place.  Can we sketch at your place?" "Oh, yes!"  I LOVE hosting the sketchers.  Such a fun, warm, talented group.  "Tell folks to bring something to add to an autumnal still life," I suggested. I swung by Trader Joe's where they had these awesome heritage pumpkins and together we set up an incredible still life on my dining table. Phyllis and Sherryl brought a huge tray of Mexican food from Patron's, everyone brought wine, gourds, squashes, and even a crow for the still life.  It poured cats and dogs outside, but we had a big fire in the wood stove and created a little slice of heaven.  Welcome, Autumn!

Djangofest Joy!

How could I leave my sketch kit at home on Djangofest? Well, I did. And didn't want to leave the festivities to go home and get it. So I grabbed a sketchbook from Studio 106 and a regular writing pen (very water soluble), and hit the streets. I can't remember enjoying Djangofest quite so much! The bass player was at the Commons when I sketched him (he was all over the place!), and was standing relatively still. The beautiful young man wearing "mostly just his skin and a feather" (quote Judi Nyerges) was standing very still. Who could resist him? The other two I caught very on the fly and were in two different locations. The guy standing was in front of Callahans and the seated guy was at OM. I thought the music was spectacular, the people watching fabulous, and the sketching fast and furious. What an amazing event!!

Django Fest sketching

Jam session at the Commons

This colorful character walked by Firehouse Glass.  I asked him to pose for us & he kindly agreed, standing patiently for several songs.  He's not a musician, but a "musician of life"?

Djammin' at Useless Bay Wines

It's Django Fest again! For 5 special days every September our little village of Langley comes alive  with the sound of gypsy jazz and is overrun with talented musicians from around the world, jamming wherever they can find a venue. I found these 4 guys at Useless Bay Wines last night, playing for tips and wine, but mostly just for the love of it. They came from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Kentucky. In case you aren't familiar with Django Fest, here's what Whidbey Island Center for the Arts has to say about it:

DjangoFest Northwest is the premier showcase of Gypsy Jazz in North America, having presented some of the biggest names in the genre to thousands of enthusiastic participants. Whidbey Island Center for the Arts is proud to host this fabulous festival, bringing local and international musicians to our rural island community.

Just one more reason to love living here.

Arts Alive

"Sittin' on the corner, sketchin' all the folks goin' by. 
Sittin' on the corner, underneath a clear blue sky.
Brother you don't know a nicer occupation,
Matter of fact, neither do I.
Than sittin' on the corner, sketchin' all the folks, 
sketchin' all the folks,
sketchin' all the folks,
goin' by."

Belated post : Claudia Pettis' Farm

Cynthia Winzenried, Claudia Pettis' Farm, heaven on earth. Amazing place!

Julia George-Jones, guest sketcher from Texas

Caroline Winzenried, guest sketcher from Texas/Washington

One Spirit Garden

A fine place for deep breathing as the season changes. 

Thank you Glo for another afternoon of nourishment.

Tea and Sketches at One Spirit Garden

It was the perfect late summer day, between 11am and 1:30pm at One Spirit Garden on Whidbey Island. I am grateful to Whidbey Island sketchers for including me at their weekly meet up for sketching, chatting, laughing and tea. There were 19 of us. Some found a spot in the garden or at a table on the covered deck, while Glo, the owner and her assistant treated us to a fabulous afternoon of pampering. You two outdid yourselves! Thank you!

(Click or Pinch Zoom to see larger images)

I kept adding sketches as the dishes kept coming.

Sketching during a tea party is an artist's version of time lapse, uh, sketching!

Then, before catching the ferry home, I dashed over to see the new exhibit at the Bayview Cash Store's farm show, "When Your Plow is a Paintbrush II" opening that evening, Friday, Sept. 5.

How great! A farm themed show mounted on chicken wire!

One more detour to The Goose to pick up the last issue of Whidbey Life Magazine in which there's a wonderful article about the Whidbey Island Sketchers and the current show. (Are you women going to tell your mothers that you made it to the centerfold at last?)

Incidentally, I made some origami business card holders to give to fellow sketchers that day, but I ran out! For those who wanted instructions on how to make them,  please follow this link.

Happy Pig

The Pigs and other animals in this Sanctuary do not need to perform for their food but I was lucky to draw this guy while he was scooping up fresh carrots.

Tea and (good!) Company

At "One Spirit Garden" today with the Whidbey Island Sketchers. Glorious weather at Gloria's place! And we were almost ALL there! 19 of us! Wow! Here are two impressions of the day - one is based on the infamous Sketchbook Skool exercise "Paint Your Teacup" (very English, very traditional), and the other, from the opposite end of the spectrum, a lovely toned bell, a string of temple bells and some "Chakra tags" in the gazebo. Very eclectic.

One Spirit Garden

I guess I'm just a sucker for a cute little shed. I painted this same shed the last time we were at One Spirit Garden....but I simply couldn't help myself. I loved peeking through the door to the adorable and inviting scene inside. It seems our sweet morning at this delightful place was over way too soon. I had had my tea and my soup and my cake and was just getting into the groove.......and it was time to go. What a great turn out today! 19 of us gathered to enjoy and sketch these sweet environs.