Day 12 Firefly Challenge #TBT A. J. Casson and World Watercolor DayChallenge--Fast and Loose

I am hoping that the spirit of the challenge today is what is important. We have an appointment to take my husband's iPhone in for battery replacement at the University Village Apple computer store today;

Since my personal goal is to do all the Firefly challenges that I can from life or on location, it would not work for us to take a side trip to Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the same day. (I have sketched it on location in the past, but can't find the artwork now. Possibly it was sold.)

"Fast and Loose" and a "lighthouse" shape near the Apple Store, with customer

I did, however, find a metaphor for the lighthouse; the Information Post at the mall. It has a "lighthouse" like shape and I could sit and sketch it at a nearby shady table while waiting for our iPhone battery. So this is my result on a hot day in Seattle.

Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook, Altoids DIY travel palette, Sharpie pen

Even though I was standing on the shady side of Ravenna Gardens, it truly was necessary to paint the hanging petunias and purple stocks as fast and loose as possible. The good thing is that it takes no time at all for the washes to dry! That satisfies the challenge for today on WorldWatercolorMonth as well! What a relief to slip into the cool, air conditioned shop from the 85°F heat outside.

The beautiful flowers at Ravenna Gardens Shop

Since I painted the flowers with no preliminary drawing, I can check off another of my missing days for the 30x30DirectWatercolor2018 challenge as well!

Chicago Symposium, Day 1

That's me in a black top next to the bench, taking a panoramic photo of our huge group on our way to the first Sketch Walk at the USK 8th Annual Symposium 2017. We walked up Michigan Avenue to the South Garden at the Art Institute of Chicago. Eventually the approximately 200 sketchers strung out for three blocks and through several stoplights.

This was the sketch walk gathering point outside of the symposium venue on the first morning. Thanks to the volunteers who guided us to the best sketching spots in the city.  None of these photos can truly express the impact of  the entire crowd of around 200 sketchers walking together along the streets of  Chicago, stopping for a while to see the world one sketch at a time..

The reflecting pool and fountain at the south garden of the Chicago Art Institute was a tempting spot to try to stay cool while sketching an inspiring subject.

I decided to go on ahead of the group to the north garden of the Institute, our second stop on the sketchwalk. It's a smaller space and even without the fountain, provided a nice shady spot with benches, tables and chairs perfect for sketching. Outdoor sculpture, like Alexander Calder’s Flying Dragon, is carefully sited. I always enjoy viewing from different angles and chose this north facing profile because it seemed not at all like a dragon, but like some exotic tropical bloom, repeating the shapes of the surrounding foliage and other plantings.

Yesterday morning we went out on our own to see the Buckingham Fountain. Even at 8:00 am, it was hot enough out in the sun to appreciate the cooling windblown mist off the edge of the fountain.

Buckingham Fountain with Chicago skyline. 7/25/17

USK Seattle in the Melrose Neighborhood, Take 2

Click here for closeup

1/24/16 Sunday's sketches from USKSeattle Sketchcrawl -- I sketched here with USKSeattle in February, 2015

Last time, I spent the day outdoors. This time, I decided to come inside more often.

I started out on the corner across the street from Starbucks Roastery, drawing the logo sign on the roof corner, (if you zoom in,  top right,you can see Gail siting her sketch) then I followed the bronze coffee beans embedded in the sidewalk in front of Starbucks' front door.

A trail of bronze coffee beans and a rain-soaked leaf pointed the way downhill to Melrose Market

I ended up half a block down the street at the Melrose Market. What a wonderful place! From the main corridor, you can get an overview of the entire marketplace, but it was fascinating to watch the busy chefs at work in the kitchen at Sitka & Spruce. A beautiful tray of fresh baked scones loomed tantalizingly on the butcher block counter, tiny flowers were placed at the chef's table.

A pair of sketchers, a red door, pussy willows in a vase atop an old oak barrel.

Harris was kind enough to let me get this shot with her cell phone camera. Thanks, H!

I counted 36 sketchers on the sidewalk outside the Melrose Market sharing their "catch of the day", but I know several who were not able to stay the entire session. I'm sure Jane will soon post up one of the group photos she got in front of Starbucks.

Grey Morning at Fishermen's Wharf

The morning started out a bit cold and nippy with overcast skies for the Friday Ad Hoc meeting of Seattle Urban Sketchers today.

I started out with the stone Qingdao Eagle monument on the west end of the dock. This sculpture commemorates the relationship of the Port of Seattle with its sister port of Qingdao, China. I used my Pentalic Aqua Journal, Micron pen and my DYI Altoids watercolor kit.

By now, my nose, ears and fingertips were becoming a bit cold for comfort, so I walked around to the south side of the nearby building.

Options for sketching indoors resulted in my choice of Wild Salmon Seafood Market. The sandwich board outside advertised the fresh selection of the day: Trout, Halibut, Black Cod, Tuna, Swordfish and Petrale Sole.

Lavender light from an overhead sign beckoned me over to the scales atop the counter. Overflowing a tray on the scales was a beautiful fresh King Salmon weighing 14.45 pounds. Workers behind the counter told me that it was fresh from our Pacific NW coast. They were kind enough to leave it there long enough for me to sketch it. I may have gotten carried away with the lavender lighting, though.

Now that I was warmed up a bit, I moved back outside to continue my counterclockwise circuit. I had enough time for one more sketch. It was a grey day, so I looked for one more subject with a subdued color palette. The crab traps piled high on the nearest boat fit the criteria. By the time my sketch was finished, the sky had cleared up, the sun was out and it was time to share our sketches.

A lively discussion while sharing our sketches in the sun.

Note: I had to correct the date on my sketchbook. June is the 6th month, duh!

USk Seattle at Pike and Melrose

What a group USk Seattle had yesterday at the new Starbucks Roastery on Pike and Melrose! At the end of the session, we filled the sidewalk along the south side of the building with sketchers and their sketches. The number of unique viewpoints, individual style, as well as the obvious high level of accomplishment was astounding. I wish I could have looked over every sketchbook at least one more time.

I arrived about 25 minutes early and couldn't find street parking no matter how many times I circled the block. No wonder! We had approximately 40 people there in our group, not to mention the "regulars" and other Seattle denizens out for a nice Sunday morning cup of coffee and/or breakfast.

Sketches by Michele Cooper-Feb 22, 2015

As I sketched the classic-looking pale green Vespa parked outside the Melrose Apartments, a woman leaned out of her top story window and called out to me: "Are you sketching the Vespa?" "Yes," I answered, "Is it yours?" "No", she replied, "but I was just on the phone with my mother, who's an artist, and I told her-Guess what? Somebody's out on the street sketching the Vespa!" For a time there, I experienced a "New York" kind of moment.

Shabby French Market Journal Page-A Memoir

Sometimes it takes me a while to decide what part of my sketch page will be written and what I want to say. I was so full of thoughts about The Shabby French Market experience with the Anacortes Sketchers that it took me until today to write them into my sketch page. (After putting down my thoughts, I have to say that I have a ways to go in the antique French script writing department.)

You enter the building from the street and immediately have so many options: up two more floors on a beautiful, wide, handcrafted wooden staircase or into one of the many doors leading off the foyer or to your left around the corner and downstairs into a treasure of shabby French nostalgia. Our rainy day meet up with the sketchers was planned for the basement. It's warm, cozy, with clear lighting and a sofa and a dozen or so chairs you could use. There's a bed, too, but it is definitely not meant for customers' use.

Last page in my Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook click to zoom

So I walked around the shop, like wandering through a memoir, stopping to sketch with the colors of fog and mist. The things that caught my eye were the hand-tied raw silk lampshade on its leaded crystal base, the silver hot chocolate pot with its aged patina, the fleurs-de-lis everywhere, along with delicate bouquets of dried hydrangeas. There is a little key-shaped wall mount for hanging your keys. "Mais oui!" Everything had the feel of treasured, though time worn objects with yet another home to grace. In the background, 1940's pop tunes and French-sounding jazz added to the atmosphere.

Many thanks to Elizabeth and Tom for welcoming our little group for an afternoon of sketching in their delightful shop.

Cloudstone Sculpture Park

Urban Sketchers Seattle joined Whidbey Island Sketchers at a thought provoking location today.

Cloudstone Sculpture Park showcases the art of Hank Nelson. Surrounded by nature you will find works of carved stone, cast bronze, cast iron, monumental steel, and earthworks.

On Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound area of Washington, residents deeply care about indigenous trees, ground cover, watersheds, shorelines, and wildlife. While maintaining eco-stewardship Nelson creates synergistic relationships between the land and his hundred sculptures. Serpentine pathways lead visitors past great pyramids, monumental steel structures, story filled ruins, and spell binding carved stone totems. Conceptual works urge visitors to take care of our planet and our people.-quoted from Cloudstone website

The Sculptors at their work

Cloud/Stone, Earth/Sky, Man/Nature, Transience/Eternity, Growth/Decay--This place kept showing me the idea that such disparate concepts might be able to coexist.

Surrounded by shapes