Sue and Case

I did this one from a photo after I got back home. This is our warm-hearted Sue walking with one of the little ladies that she checks in on regularly. Her visits clearly mean so much to so many. Thank you Sue for being who you are.

Sketching Weekend

It's kinda cool when I look at my sketchbooks and think of all of you.....who I was sitting with, the wonderful sharing and connection. I miss you all! It was GREAT weekend visiting Whidbey Island!

Madrona colors

Thanks to Missy for a shared blop of Transparent Pyrol Orange and to Sandra for a shared blop of Lapis Lazuli. We also found some new pencils with 3 colors in the lead, but they weren't water soluble. 

But the cold day made my Anacortes madrona grove story more haphazard than Sue's -  fresh wet colors in my paint box and no testing before it touched the page. I was balancing all my gear and dancing around on a hill to stay warm, then oops, touched the wrong blue and I had "midnight in the grove."

Rubatno: Joyful Music in the sunshine

Off-Island adventure to McMenamin's

A few cars full of Whidbey Island Sketchers started out earlier than usual for our Friday sketching this week. We caught a 10:30 ferry to the other side and headed off to McMenamin's Anderson School. 

We met at the North Shore Lagoon - aka Tiki Bar for a little lunch before sketching. We were so thrilled to find fellow-sketchers-from-afar had joined us: Robin and Kate (Seattle Sketchers), and Roy (Tacoma Sketchers). 

Lunch was a bit wild and crazy; we kept adding to the table and thoroughly confused our patient waiter, Danuel (pronounced and spelled like Manual, he said his parents are hippies). We decided that Happy Hour could actually be before sketching, since we were in a fabulous Polynesian themed location overlooking the pool, so decided to have something with little umbrellas. So we ordered a tray full of MaiTais.  But alas, Danual said they had freshly run out of umbrellas. Oh, no! 

We ordered lunch, shared sketchbooks, materials and stories. And we sketched. It was such great sharing time - LOTS of great ideas and information. We learned that our Island group is pretty kick-back in approach....relaxed in a wonderful island way. Apparently, times and parameters are a little more norm in the other groups. 

After lunch they asked us where & when "Throwdown" would be. Huh? I made a note. We might just have to steal that, because we truly enjoyed this sharing time. Kate also reminded us that the important phrase is "share not compare."

 

Historical Society Visit

The South Whidbey Historical Society opened up just for us on a Friday afternoon so we could take over the place. It's amazing how vast the collection is, from an entire kitchen (complete with a hand water pump over the sink) to this incredible vintage tool collection. I enjoyed the gadgets and their descriptions. Some of the things were so far from modern life and a good reminder of how self sufficient the original settlers were; a tool to sharpen your saw teeth, a gadget to make lead balls for your ammunition, shoemaker's tools and so much more. Imagine Island life before Amazon Prime!

A special  thank you to Bruce for setting us up, and to Bill for spending the afternoon with us.

Sketching at Island Herb

Island Herb was such a welcoming environment - a cozy seating area filled with artwork, plus friendly and helpful staff. They filled us in on all of the gadgets and forms of cannabis.  Lots of products to help you sleep, take away the aches and pains of life or just feel mellow. A fun way to spend a cold December day!

Making fresh Christmas wreaths

In a break from our usual sketching style, we created wreaths at Paula's again this year. She ordered supplies, pulled out her magic wreath clamping device and set it all up in in a covered garage space (where we can be messy but sort of warm). Everybody gathered odds and ends of greenery - such an nice variety and the smell was amazing. Mary C. even brought sticks, shells and copper wire. Somebody brought Rosemary this year, thank you.....my whole house smells great. It's become one of my favorite traditions. Thank you Paula!

Treasures on the Island

On a chilly fall day I set up to sketch at Treasure Island...but there were eyes on me already. From the rooftop, Henry the guard cat was watching. I didn't see him at first - who looks for a cat on a hot tin roof? But then movement from above and here he comes - DOWN the ladder to check me out. 

Inside, another great curiosity....who was this ancient tribe from long ago? Or, possibly, are they still here deep in the forest or under the sea? 

 

Naval Museum in Oak Harbor

Such a fascinating place -  great docents and such an intriguing collection!

Sundance Bakery

Fresh baked cinnamon rolls, pumpkin bars with gooey cream cheese frosting..... and an equally warm happy hour.

Sketchers retreat in Long Beach

Annie's country garden

Guns & Roses

Well, not really - roses first then guns. Nicely differing landscape over the past 2 weeks with Sandri's classic gardens (complete with warm white sand between my toes) then Fort Casey (foreboding on a good day, but dark clouds and a brisk wind made it chilly and intimidating).

Fun Happy Hour included Anacortes Sketchers Missy & Kalena, and Gnat's friend Mary from Nebraska-who-used-to-live-on-Whidbey-and-just-moved-back.

Sky Root Farms

What a lovely day at Sky Root Farms, so much to sketch!  I kept thinking how I wished I could capture the sounds of the happy pigs and goats  (who knew there were so many different goat noises?), the taste of the Kohlrabi (a turnip looking thing fresh picked and sliced up) and the smells (some not so good, but so wonderfully farmy). A delicious day with fun people and great stories of their livelihood .... and they genuinely appreciated our sketches.

Bob Bowling Rustics

Tidy and elegant old things neatly categorized, lined up and ready to be repurposed

Creativity all around, the kind of place that makes you smile