MARKET, MARIMBA AND THE MERCANTILE

With the Sketchers today in Langley to sketch the street vendors and enjoy Kim Stokely's Marimba group performing at the Commons. I had no more than plunked myself down in my chair, under my umbrella, in the bright sunshine, behind the barricade in front of the vegetable stand, in the middle of the Second Street Market, than two kids sucking on big suckers crawled up into the Starboxx to have the obligatory in-the-Starboxx photo taken by their mother. The Starboxx is an art installation by John Alsip (or bus stop, or photo booth, or sculptural icon of Langley, whichever you choose) that sits in the parking lot, behind the newly remodeled rear entry of Prima Bistro, and the Star Store and Mercantile. As I already had the drawing done, it was a cinch to drop them into the sketch. I had only to reassure mom that their faces would not appear on the internet. Sorry Mom. I'm pretty sure no one will know it's them . . . !

Prima Gestures

Got in a couple sketches between bites of Brussels Sprouts. One of Mary and another of a cute little girl wearing a zebra print coat and boots. The caramelized sprouts have converted me. YUM!

A Langley Kinda Day

Starting out at Callahan's Firehouse Gallery, then to Prima Bistro for Happy Hour, and on to Ott & Murphy for some great music and a glass of yummy Mutiny Bay Red, sketching all the way. A perfect sketchers' day! I did many, many bad sketches during the 7 hour sketching marathon. I  ran every pen I had dry and had to borrow one from Kris. Kris reminded me it's about the process, not the results. Here are some of the ones I liked well enough to post. (P.S. Huge thumbs up on Prima's carmelized Brussels sprouts and the chickpea fries.)

Glass Flower Bouquet at Callahan's. Wow.

Mary with Glassy Babies in background at Prima

Announcement after the show at O&M

The guy in the front row at O&M

Audience milling about after the show at O&M

4

Nosh and Sketch

nosh |nä sh | informalnounfood : filling the freezer with all kinds of nosh we bought at the Star Store.• a small item of food : "We have plenty of noshes and nibbles" said the waiter.• a light meal; a snack : in between noshes we sketched people at Prima Bistro and Mo's.verb [ intrans. ]eat food enthusiastically or greedily : there are several restaurants in Langley, so you can nosh to your heart's content | [ trans. ] there I sat, noshing my favorite food as I splashed paint on the table cloth.• eat between meals : today's grazing is different from what we used to call noshing or snacking. But noshing sounds better.ORIGIN early 20th cent. (denoting a snack bar): Yiddish.

First stop, Prima Bistro.

A local fixture at Prima

Then a portrait of Kelly at Mo's.

A pre-med student also studying spanish.

A profile at Mo's

Trio Nouveau

Keith Bowers, Guitar

We were excited when we realized Trio Nouveau was setting up right next to our table out on the rooftop deck at Prima. I  LOVE sketching musicians and love the festive atmosphere on Prima's deck.

But once again, I only managed to capture 2/3 of the trio. Someday I'll get all three of them, but probably not at Prima. As soon as they realized we were planning to sketch, the staff politely let us know they didn't want us tying up the table too long. So we tried not to overstay our welcome and vamoosed shortly after we finished dinner. Oh well, we're just gonna have to find more sketcher-friendly venues for sketching musicians.

Troy Chapman, Guitar

Freeland Art Studios & Dean Tile and Design

Freeland Art Studios

I got one sketch done in the sunny sculpture garden at Freeland Art Studios before I was driven to get out of the sun.

Tile artist Carol Dean let us sketch in her tile studio next door. We loved all the fun and funky clay head sculptures/planters. I want one. At least one. They were fabulous and I didn't do them justice. I'm blaming it on Carol's adorable Italian Greyhound, Silvie, who was ensconced on my lap while I was trying to sketch.

 Went out for dinner at Prima after sketching and did a quick sketch in my small pocket-sized Moleskine while waiting for my salad. The guy on the left was talking to his wife and the guy on the right studying the menu for a very long time. I always appreciate subjects who save me the trouble of drawing their mouths :-)

Saturday Night Portraits in Langley

After First Saturday Art Walk, we had dinner at Prima Bistro. Well, everyone else had dinner while I tried to sketch them.;-) Then on to Mo's for more sketching when the music got too loud for us at Prima.

Hey, it's Corey! You know . . .  that tall, cute guy who works at Useless Bay. He stopped by Mo's after work and joined us for a sketch. He brought his sketchbook with him. On the right is James, a visitor to the island.

Mo's Pub

Prima Bistro then Mo's Portrait Party

My first sketch of the evening is of Prima Bistro as Deja Blooze played some great tunes. I tried to capture the warmth and activity of the place. Next time we'll sit in front of the band.

The backside of one third of Deja Blooze at Prima Bistro

Later Sue and I migrated to Mo's for a little portrait party. First sitter was the charming and delightful Corey of Useless Bay Coffee fame. Turns out he's a sketcher too. A talented young man so we hope to recruit him into WISk.

Corey Sketching at Mo's

Then the amicable and proud James visiting from Tucson. James finds the Island's inhabitants friendly and approachable, much like himself. He was lucky and walked away with a sketch!

James Patiently Posing

Prima Portraits

Ron Kasprisin, architect, artist, UW prof, bon vivant.

Channeling Kris Wiltse on this one. My favorite.

Stefen had attitude.

Okay, I may have used too much water here!

David was reading a book. Heck of a nice guy!

My husband thought this was me. It's a guy.

I hope no one sitting at Prima's bar last night was not supposed to be there because we sketched just about every one of them!

Celebrating at Prima

Kris and I met up at Prima to celebrate the hanging of two art shows. She had just finished hanging her watercolors paintings and sketches in Useless Bay Coffee Company. And Whidbey Island Sketchers' show at the Unitarian Church opened yesterday, too!

It was lovely taking my sweet time drawing something that had no inclination to move, squirm, twitch or get up and leave. This kind of drawing is very Zen for me. Speaking of Zen and churches, we both found Prima's molten brownie with vanilla ice cream to be a profoundly religious experience.

Langley After Hours

We started with six sketchers in yesterday's nine hour sketch-a-thon. Four sketching venues in one day might be a record for us. But only two of us had the stamina to make it through to the end. Another great dinner and a few sketches at UBC, then on to Prima for one last sketch.

Some great hair at Useless Bay Coffee last night. I call this one Goldilocks

.

Rapunzel sat down next to Goldilocks.

Eating Dinner at Useless Bay Coffee

More diners at Useless Bay Coffee

He had a date, but they left before I got to her.

One last sketch and a nightcap at Prima

A Communist Hat at Prima

A sketch of Aaron wearing a communist military hat at Prima Bistro. Aaron is the conductor of Whidbey Island Orchestra. We sketchers hope to capture them during rehearsal sometime soon. Also a few sketches from Uselss Bay Coffee. Tasty fish Tacos! Looking forward to trying the BBQ.

Callahan's Firehouse Glass & Gadding about Langley

The Glory Hole

Sketching at Callahan's Firehouse Glass Studio and Gallery was great. I tried to capture the glory hole, where all the magic happens. I'd love to go back sometime and try to capture Callahan in action, Suzy the dog and some of the gorgeous art glass on display. If you're looking for a last minute gift, this is the place.

 

"The Hat" with actress, Katie Woodzick

We stopped at Prima Bistro for an apres-sketching glass of cheer and were rewarded with some primo sketching subjects. We were pretty excited to find this guy with the Russian hat sitting directly across from us. Theater people, of course! Everyone had to draw him.

 

A rough sketch of the back room at Useless Bay Coffee at closing time.

Then on to Useless Bay Coffee Company to check out their new dinner service. I've been hearing about their fish tacos and was not disappointed. The place was packed and lively.Seemed like everyone was there.(This sketch does not convey the lively atmosphere - it was done just as we were closing the place about 8:30.) Everything was topnotch and we are all just thrilled about having a new casual place for dinner with great food.

Langley Sketching

Sure was fun sketching in Langley yesterday. Met a lot nice people as we usually do when we're out sketching. People notice us looking or the palettes in front of us. Kids really hone in. They're artists wanting to know what other artists are up to. Here's my sketches...

  

Nymbol's Puppets

 

Family Celebration

 

A not so good likeness of Sue.

 

An animated Gentleman