Monday at the old Lincoln Theatre

Anacortes sketchers arriving at the old Lincoln Theatre

Behind the scenes at the old Lincoln Theatre-What to choose?

It was a perfect afternoon for painting outside on the sidewalk in Mt. Vernon today. The old Lincoln Theatre (established in 1926) just had their new sign installed and it's pretty fabulous. So that's what I thought I would sketch. I even got started sketching in a shady spot across the street.

It was tempting, but we had unusual access to all the interior and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to prowl around behind the scenes.

As I passed the old fashioned ticket booth under the marquee and entered the lobby, there was the concession stand. It still has original graphics on either end from the 1940's indicating which way to the Guys' and Gals' restrooms.

Monday with Anacortes Sketchers at the old Lincoln Theatre

I wandered all over, from the amazingly spacious auditorium with chandeliers hanging from truly high vaulted ceilings to the dressing rooms, carpenter shop, ushers' uniform closet, and a labyrinth of rooms, hallways and stairways. Someone was in the alley building a new set of steps for the cast entrance. There are still live performances staged at the Lincoln Theatre as well as classic, foreign,  independent and art films.

All that was missing was the sound of fresh hot popcorn and bubbles rising to the top of an enormus cup of Pepsi. That's how I reached the decision to sketch behind the scenes at the concession stand. The octopus-like tangle of tubes connecting the CO2 tanks to the soda dispenser, the Pepsi sign seen through the side of the popcorn machine, and the massive container (down to one third full) of popcorn kernels; all these were fun to sketch from my view at the base of a crooked set of stairs.

Thank you, Margaret, for arranging and hosting such a great opportunity and thanks to the staff at the Lincoln Theatre.

Monday, August 10, at Sue Roberts' Studio

Approaching Guemes Island landing.

I am so glad that I decided to drive up early for our August 10th Anacortes Sketchers' outing! Missy kindly sent me a message about the rain, in case I wanted to wait until after lunch.

Our plan had been to walk on the 11:30am Guemes Island ferry (a 5 minute ride, sailing every half hour) and sketch on the beach while enjoying our own packed lunch. We had an appointment to visit artist Sue Roberts' studio after 1:00pm. I checked the weather and it looked like the rain would stop after 11:30, so I went early, as planned.

As you can see, it was still a bit overcast when I arrived at 11:15 am, but the rain had already stopped. Then I pulled over immediately after disembarking the ferry! Because here was a sweet little red "Gem" just waiting to be painted!

I thought this was the cutest, most colorful thing I would find on the island and set about sketching it immediately! I used my "perfect sketchbook", Micron pen, and my DYI Altoids Mini watercolor kit.

My sketch of the little red "Gem" parked at the ferry line shelter on Guemes.

I ordered fish and chips at the General Store for lunch. Janice and Bonnie were outside on the patio. What a view! It's right across the street from the ferry landing.  When my order came, the cook offered us an unclaimed order of crab and veggie summer rolls that someone had abandoned in their haste to catch the ferry. It was hard to get those two to wait for just a second while I sketched the crab rolls! Refinements added later.

The cook offered us free crab summer rolls with spicy sauce and ice water.

After sharing our lunch, we took off to visit Sue in her studio. I was wrong about the colorfulness factor! This being my first time at Sue Roberts' Tower Arts Studio, I had no idea what wonders awaited me!

Upstairs is a bedroom, converted from the original studio space overlooking the channel. Sue said it was too distracting. So she moved her major work studio down to the main floor.

Every piece of furniture is a delight to the eye.

I had half a man.....I mean, half a mind to cozy up in the reading nook.

 The beautiful color scheme and ceramic sculptures spill out into the garden and landscape outside.

As you gaze around the studio, there is no end to the imaginative collection of Sue's creations.

Everything is uniquely expressive.

 

If there is an earthquake here, heads will roll!

We got a tour of the studio from top to bottom and all around the grounds. Then we set to work.

So many choices of subject matter, both inside and out!

We tucked a couple of Sue's ceramic pieces in with all our afternoon sketches. Thanks to Annette for climbing to new heights for a great shot!

I stayed as late as I could to finish my sketches inspired by the afternoon at Sue's Tower Arts Studio. Color added at home.

Then, Sue gave us hot crab dip, chips, cool beverages and a homemade chocolate apple cake made just for us by Janice. Yum! Thank you, Sue, for an inspirational, fun and colorful summer retreat!

Tea-dious

Since I missed out on sketching with the Anacortes sketchers today, I thought I would finish up a sketch from a previous meet up with them. It's one of my longest procrastinations ever! May 18, to be exact!

The occasion was one of my favorites: we met at Aleli's house for sketching and a fabulous tea party. She made lovely tea sandwiches, with the crusts trimmed and everything. We had flower tea, wine, all sorts of treats, and then she said we could take home the cup that we sketched.

Which one would you have chosen?

While sipping, munching and listening to half a dozen conversations, I had been languishing with my pen, sketching the cover of a book about tea by Mary Engelbreit (of "Life is Just a Chair of Bowlies" fame). I dropped THAT project like a hot scone when I realized I didn't even have a sketch of my favorite teacup! I quickly got enough of a sketch done to qualify for the prize of taking my cup home. Whew! But I barely had any color on sketches of anything else except for the sandwiches and three grapes.

I finally finished the color on this one today!

So that's where the "tea-dious" bit comes in. Mary E., I love your work and respect your talent, but all those tiny details, dits, dots, cups, flowers and bees everywhere! That cover for your book about tea must have taken ages! It certainly did for me! And I fudged a bit.....no need to worry about copyright infringement here!

PS Sorry I missed today, sketchers. As you see, I was with you in spirit!

Sea Breezes, Flowers, fresh Penn Cove Mussels and Sketching Coupeville with ASk

Aqua Gifts on Front Street, one of my favorite gift shops.

These are the individual closeups of my sketches after a full day on Front Street in Coupeville on Whidbey Island with the Anacortes Sketchers.To see how these closeups look in the full spread of my sketchbook, please visit Anacortes Sketchers blog here.

Empty wine bottle and mussel shells from dinner tonight.

Almost every shop has flowers out front

I can remain standing on the sidewalk while I sketch and paint.

Instead of taking the ferry, I drove around the long way (about 70 miles one way) to meet up with The Anacortes sketchers today. It was the Monday after the Fourth of July weekend and there was an unusually large amount of traffic all the way from Marysville to my destination.

You drive around Penn Cove, famous for the freshest mussels anywhere, and come to Coupeville, this great little village with flowers on every doorstep and cool sea breezes mixing with delicious aromas from the waterfront bars and bistros.

Once I got there, I had to spend a little more time looking for parking since the town was also unusually busy. I finally settled on this spot in the shade on a side street, with a view of "Aqua Gifts" on the east end of Front Street and started sketching with my Micron pen and my Pentalic Aqua Journal.

There were sketchers all along the waterfront and even up the hill a block or two. Everyone enjoyed their own way of exploring the town, sketching, visiting, shopping, etc. At the end of the day, some of us went into Toby's for a cold drink and fresh Penn Cove Mussels. I got a pound of fresh mussels to take home and steam for dinner tonight. They turned out great!

Summer Island Vignettes

A view of Mt. Baker and Jerlyn sketching in Bonnie's Garden

Today, I spent a wonderful afternoon with the Anacortes sketchers at the home of one of our artists. The summer air was fresh and warm, the garden bountiful and the hospitality warm and welcoming. After roaming the house and garden, I found a shady spot with a view of Mt. Baker. Cloud shadows played across the mountain's shapes, creating a variety of undulating rhythms.

After a meander through the glade with its own pond and tiny island, we came back to the table where fresh flowers and chocolate tempted us. Everywhere you looked, there was another path, a grouping of potted blossoms or a place to sit and muse.

I spent a lot of time today just soaking it all in. I think you would have, too, if you had been there.

Topping the tulips--Monday Sketching with ASk--Tulips Second time

Sketching in the cold shelter of a tree line with Tina.

As we settled on a spot to sketch, a group of workers walked by and moved across the rows, snapping off the flower heads of the bulb crop. They left some for visitors to enjoy, but the weather was cold and breezy this time. I KNEW I should have brought my gloves!

We managed to finish our sketches, greet new arrivals from ASk,

then shiver our way to the other side, looking for a warmer spot. 

Fingers frozen, next we sketched in the car with our front row parking spots! Mt. Vernon weather is unpredictable this time of year.

You can just barely make out the workers in the upper right edge of the field.

This was April 6, the second Monday in a row for the Anacortes Sketchers, making sure we didn't miss the extremely early bloom this year.

My friend, Anne Elkins, gave me permission to use this photo she took of me while I painted in the field across from Christianson's a week ago, Monday.

Here's a shot from a nearby field nineteen years ago. The workers were topping all the flowers as I painted.

ASk at Gretchen's

Happy sketchers! Thank you, Donna and Dianne!

Anacortes Sketchers filled their sketchbooks at Gretchen's on Monday.

The Anacortes Sketchers were welcomed at Gretchen's in Mt. Vernon on Monday, March 16. Give us a beautifully set up kitchen shop nearly all to ourselves and just see how busy we can be! So busy, it has taken me a while to put this post together!

If you are local, you may recall that this shop was set up with the assistance of Graham Kerr, whose national cooking show, "The Galloping Gourmet" was so popular. You should see the kitchen used for demonstrations and classes!

Everyone fell in love with the bright Spring teapots!

Busy, busy, busy, all over the shop!!

My two page sketch journal spread from yesterday with ASk

Tri Dee Art Supply is on a corner in downtown Mt. Vernon, across the street from the Co-op Grocery and Deli. Just looking at the two story square brick building from outside, you know it's going to be fun shopping in there.

Thank you, Tri Dee, for my Palomino Blackwing 620 pencil!

I had such a great time, inside the store and out. First, I saw this fabulously colorful umbrella, hanging upside down from the ceiling as a lamp shade. While I sketched it, a woman came in from her walk in the sunny spring weather. She liked it, too. As well as the stack of retro toys and games behind her.

The store owners gave each of us sketchers a Palomino Blackwing 620 pencil, favored by John Steinbeck and others. See the story of the pencil, here. At one time, they were going for $40 a pencil on Ebay.

Outside, on the front sidewalk, was the sandwich board advertising more fun stuff to do here. A tree was all cozied up with a yarn bomb made by an expert. All sorts of colors and patterns decorated it and it was custom fit to the bifurcated tree as it branched out above head height.

The wall mural in the alley is a huge chalkboard, where you can finish the sentence: Before I die I want to:___________________. One person wrote: ......Take over the world with GOATS.
What would you write?

Sketching at Tri Dee Art Supply

Tri Dee Art Supply back door and mural. 

There's always such a positive, welcoming environment when I go to Tri Dee Art Supply in Mt. Vernon.You can tell it's going to be creative, fun and exciting, just by the way it looks on the outside!

The back wall has a huge mural that says, "Make Art Not War". It consists of 139 pieces made by members of the community, from the owner's daughter to well known artists.

In the alley, there is a giant chalkboard with blank spaces for you to fill in your words at the end of the sentence: "Before I die I want to____________". Anyone can write on it. Just like the people who made them, the statements are thought provoking, sad, affirmative or amusing.

I liked the ones that said: Before I die I want to:
........Ride an elephant with (name)
........Dance lots
........Take over the world with GOATS
While I was outside sketching, I saw what seemed to be a newly engaged couple, with their photographer, writing that they wanted to marry each other.

On the tree out in front, there is an example of probably the most positive form of graffiti, a yarn bomb. A lovely, colorful cozy has been custom fitted around the tree. This is no beginner project, with various bright colors and patterns, extending several feet all the way up to where it branches in two, and beyond!

Only three of us (Anne, Michele, Sandy) made it back inside the store for a photo on the steps with our sketches.

It was such a lovely day, sunny and in the 60's. What a treat for February! So although our sketch meet up was planned so that we could shelter from winter inside, many of us just had to take advantage of the early spring weather. Some walked up and down the block, others joined up way down by the river. I'm looking forward to seeing their sketches as they post them on the Anacortes Sketchers Blog in the next few days! So much to tell you today, so I'll post my sketches from the day tomorrow!

A Collector's Treasures

Yesterday, I visited a wonderful place with fellow sketchers from ASk. I mean to say, the place wasn't just virtual, it was a state of mind.
We were at the home of one of our fellow artists and she shared her treasures with us. Just like the person, the home was beautiful both inside and out.

(In progress) Almost finished with this year's Sketchbook Project!

All stored in jars, baskets and the collector's memory, each small and seemingly insignificant piece has a story.

At Kalena's with ASK

Opportunities for subject matter around every corner outside. 

Jerlyn, Petey, Missy, Patrick (Back)
Annette, Jude, Bonney, Jane, Katie, Kalena (Front)
Down the beach: Jill--Inside, at the dining table: Linden, Carolyn
Behind the camera: Michele

Thank you, Kalena, for your hospitality in hosting today's meet up with the Anacortes Sketchers. There were views of the tidal bay with a few forested islands, a shoreline strung with beach houses, some still showing their 1950's origins and not a drop of rain as we took our walk on the shore.

Every imaginable beach combing collection was available for inspiration