Pat's Garden, Then and Now

in August of 2015, the sketchers met to draw member Pat's new house, with its promise of gardens to come. She invited us to image what her plantings might look like. Now here it is, three years later, just before the fourth of July holiday, and her garden area has gone from sparse but full of potential, to bursting with colorful fulfillment. 

Drawing what draws me near

Yes, I usually seek a quiet location to sketch. Listening to the buzz of the bees and the whisper of the wind is part of the plein air process.

But looking through my sketchbook today makes me realize that sometimes my subject matter is dictated by a lively conversation that I am "drawn" to. I'm likely to sit near a fun person or an interesting conversation, then find that there's always something lovely to sketch. But the other sketchers - oh, they are the loveliest of all.

Out laundry sketches become a marker in time and place in our little world - kind of like Van Gogh and Gauguin at the yellow house in Arles.

Sketching in Pat's Garden

Staring over and through a garden into the deep woods does not make for the most bright and colorful drawing. In fact, using my left to sketch gave it a quality that makes the whole thing sort of border-line scary. Like this car door is a portal into the woods of our childhood nightmares. EEee-uuuww!

Left hand painting in the garden

Lots of fun enjoying the weather (warm once again) in our garden.  Sketchers, thank you for all the goodies you brought to help us enjoy the weather and each others company while we sketched with our non-dominant hand.  So difficult at first, but I think the brain can be trained.  Here are dominant and non-dominant sketches from Friday.

Sedum table and chair EDIM sketch
challenge

View from under the Birch tree

Left handed 

Non Dominant Sketching....in solidarity

What a tribe we have in WISK!! So member Paula broke her wrist and lamented she could not come to sketch because it is her dominant hand. "NO!" we cried, "You must come! In solidarity we will all sketch with our non dominant hand!" And we did. Throughout Pat Brookes' sumptuous garden you could hear the moans and grunts of sketchers figuring out small things like how to hold a brush in the non dominant hand. I felt like I was 6 years old again, painfully drawing the pen across the paper....all wiggly woo. And guess what! I really like this sketch! I did a quickie with my regular hand, but it's not nearly as interesting as this one. AND....it was one of those perfect NW days. 

Pat's sketches

It was so exciting having you here that it took me a while to settle down and enjoy my own house and garden.  Thank you for the beautiful sketches.  It's nice to see my house from your eyes.

view of the sedum table on back patio

Snacks and wine with Antique couch in the background.

Pat's World

Yeah, how DOES she do it all? I suspect she doesn't sleep much. Everywhere you look in Pat Brooke's world there is color, texture, and artistry. Her garden and home are artfully designed, maintained, cozy and welcoming. The very pleasant hours of being near my sketcher friends while still in my own experience slipped by so fast I could not believe it when it was time to go. It was hard to choose what to sketch. I settled on this sweet gardening wagon, could not resist The Nook, and was drawn to the stunning bouquet of soft pink roses. Thanks Pat. It was a great day.