Ferry Brennan garden & house

I had a wonderful time sketching the most color full house on a Lane with the name Foxglove.  Our hosts Anne and Patrick sat around the fire with us chatting and sharing the most delicious pizza made by Anne.  It was a magical afternoon at a magical home.  Thank you both and Sue for scheduling this day.

View from inside of the greenhouse

Lucy's handiwork at a young age.  The front door.  Patrick painted the house.

Sketching at the Ferry-Brennan home

We Sketchers get to do wonderful things, like spending an afternoon at the incredible home of Anne Ferry and Patrick Brennan, and Gloria Ferry-Brennan; a compound sort of 1/2 hobbit house, half gypsy caravan, tucked deep in the woods in Freeland, and blooming with color all around. After a walk through a forest trail, we emerged into a sunlit glade where our host and hostess showered us with warm hospitality, fed us hot-out-of-the-oven pizza, freshly baked chocolate cake and let us sketch anywhere we wanted in their colorful, eclectic fairy-lighted home! I felt like I had been transported into the pages of a children's book! Lucky little girl, Gloria, growing up there. It is no wonder she is stepping onto the world stage with her violin. She and it are covered with pixie dust from growing up in the magic!

Got this much done on site (between slices of pizza). Phyllis and I decided it was definitely whimpy and needed punching.

So this morning I punched it aggressively, with layers of wash (and one fairly obnoxious, staining green). Better, though. 

Anne and Patrick Ferry-Brennan

Today it was as though we had travelled to the French countryside to an enchanted garden. Goddess' everywhere were splashing paint and scribbling away attempting to capture the magic.  Several little buildings were scattered about the landscape, each one a place for making art of some kind. Our hostess, Anne, quietly produced delicious handmade pizzas and chocolate cake from her oven and served it in the garden near the inviting fire. Meanwhile host Patrick engaged us with conversation of beings so amazing that no one could even believe in them! And the inevitability of it all, and how the past and future create our present moment. The day was rich and vibrant, and I consider the WISks to be a bunch of Lucky Ducks. We get to visit such amazing environments and people while we do the thing we love to do......sketch! Thank you Anne and Patrick!

Around the Ferry-Brennan Campfire

At the end of a memorable afternoon in the Ferry Brennan garden of astonishing art and whimsy, the final few sketchers sat around the fire basking in Anne and Patrick's warm hospitality.  We dined on Anne's home made pizza and chocolate cake, drank wine, laughed, and talked of many things, including the future, the past, the Goddess, being seen, and the inevitability of it all. I've never drawn a fire before - it was exhilarating! A really beautiful experience. Thank you again, Anne and Patrick.

Anne & Patrick Ferry Brennan

 To our most gracious magical and loving hosts, Anne & Patrick, a hearty "thank you!"  A fine Friday afternoon sketching with us all scattered about the Ferry-Brennan expansive gardens and buildings.  Such a fun day ... the creativity abounds.  This sketch is too large for my printer, so I had to chop it in half ... but it's a riff off their home, the mountains, clouds, sea painted on their home ... and a chicken I found in the green house, a painting I found in Patrick's studio ... all combined in a comic book Dali kind of a way.  Being around these creative folks, I just didn't want to draw a straight line.  You'd understand.

Why Did the Chickens Cross the Road?

"Talk to the Hand"

I didn't intend this sketch to have the "Talk of the Hand" motif, but it just turned out that way!  Go figure!

The day felt like a day of sketching, wining and enjoying Anne's home made pizza and chocolate cake in a French countryside villa.  Oh joyous day!