A Cool Spot to Sketch at Bellevue Botanical Garden

As our heat wave continued, USk Seattle found refuge at Bellevue Botanical Garden for their monthly outing today. It was cool and comfortable in the shade of the forested garden. The outside temperature climbed from 78°F to 91°F from the time we met at 10 am. until many left the parking lot after lunch at around 2:00 pm.

The garden provided a cool quiet place for everyone.

The "Hobbit Door" was still there.

I was amazed at the transformation from the old familiar gardens that I last visited at least a decade ago. First, I found the "Hobbit Door" as I walked along the path beyond the Tea House. Although I was on my way to the Yao Garden, I just had to capture this enchanting little feature first.

I was entranced also by the serenity of the Yao Japanese Garden. I found a cool shady spot at the south end of the pond and spent the rest of my sketching time there. I sketched the summer sky reflected in the pond and the rocks and plantings bordering it all around.

Somehow I was subliminally influenced to go to the gift shop and buy two rocks with images on one side and sayings on the other. They make good paper weights!

With the air conditioning on full blast, I made the commute back home where the gauge on the deck said it was 92°F in Marysville! Isn't this supposed to be the weather in Porto during the symposium? I think we've switched climates!

Ready for my USK 10x10 Students

I’m ready for my students in Seattle for the new USK 10x10 Spring series of urban sketching workshops. My class is sold out but those on the waiting list have priority for registration for my next one August 25. Meanwhile, here’s a peek at a few perks for you students who are ready to take your “First Steps into Visual Journaling”. See you soon!

Free Kickoff Event at Daniel Smith, Inc on March 3–Join Us!

I am honored to be teaching one of the workshops for beginners. 

For the second year, USk Seattle is taking part in 10x10, the worldwide initiative to offer educational workshops wherever sketchers live. Launched in celebration of Urban Sketchers’ 10th anniversary in 2017, the program brings a variety of courses on urban sketching techniques taught by talented local instructors in their home cities.

All workshops are on Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration begins Sunday, March 4, 2018, 9 a.m. The cost is $60 each.
UPDATE: My workshop May 19, 2018 (#8 First Steps into Visual Journaling) is FULL
Wait list taken. Please send your request to usk.seattle@gmail.com , and you will get a response regarding your status on the list. 

A free Program Kickoff Event will be held March 3, 4:30 p.m., at Daniel Smith’s Seattle store. (Although the kickoff is free, registration is required.) Meet the instructors, see their sketchbooks, and learn about the workshops before registering. The kickoff will be followed by an unhosted, informal “drink & draw” at a nearby location, which will be another opportunity to talk with instructors who attend this optional event. Hope to see you there!

Street corner sketch by Michele Cooper 

Please see the Seattle blog for workshop details and registration information. 

Abandoned Art #2 in Hawai’i

Not always, but sometimes I take along a little extra surprise in my sketchbag when I’m on my way to meet up with fellow urban sketchers. Today I decided to abandon this original 5x7” watercolor at the Honolulu Fire Museum while spending the early afternoon sketching with USK O’ahu and my two granddaughters.

Here’s what happened: A visiting sketcher from Australia was working on her sketch of Engine #6 when she spied something on the driver seat!

Averill from Australia found it while sketching the fire engine!

Here’s phow I do it:

1. Choose a piece of art, original or print, to abandon. Tag it and wrap it.
2. Post a photo and details of where this will happen on my Instagram feed (follow me to get the latest notifications)
3. Post a photo on FB Art Abandonment Group page.
4. Place the free artwork for someone to find, but don’t get caught!
5. Post a photo of the abandoned art as a hint for the finder, whoever they may be. (Sometimes if a fellow sketcher finds it, they will surprise me by letting me know of their find! Three times the fun!)

More about Art Abandonment here.
More about my process while painting Kawainui Marsh here.
Please read more about our wonderful day with USK O’ahu here.

Kawainui Marsh

Had a wonderful afternoon stroll at Kawainui Marsh. Inspired!

I made a value study and 5x7" greeting card preliminary sketch in watercolor. I plan to abandon this art at the Urban Sketchers O'ahu meeting on Saturday.

Just before sunset on the marsh.

I think the pigeon is trying to blend in

.

Tenting in Hawai'i is not camping

Here's something that you aren't likely to experience in the Pacific NW. 

I had to sketch fast to keep up with this efficient crew

Periodically in tropical climates, a homeowner may have to call in the pest control experts and have the house "tented ". Our son had his home treated for termite control today. 

Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides—or fumigants—to suffocate or poison the pests within. 

Kama'aina Pest Control crew tenting the house

This was our first and only experience with tenting for pest control but the crew and other representatives from https://www.kamaainatermite.com/ were thoroughly professional and easy to work with. They had the entire job finished in no time and made sure everyone knew the safety requirements. 

My South Pacific studio and a Historical location with UskOahu

Michele Cooper in Hawai’i

Dec16, 2017–My son and I, along with my two granddaughters joined USK Oahu at historic Washington Place from 2:30-4:30  to enjoy its 170 year history.

The Eternal Flame is a bronze and copper sculpture dedicated in 1974 to the men and women of the State of Hawaii who served in the Armed Forces of the United States. The memorial is located just outside the estate. 

Over a dozen urban sketchers met on the grounds and former residence of Queen Lili'uokalani as tours were given of the interior. 'Aha Mele Hawaiian musicians and dancers performed on the lanai.

Docents in long white dresses and leis led the tours indoors where two lovely parlors displayed rare Koa wood furnishings.

The Greek revival palace was built in 1848. It was the former residence of Queen Lili’uokalani and later became the official residence of the Governor of Hawai’i. It is a National Historic Landmark, designated in 2007. The current governor’s residence was built in 2008 behind the historic residence and is located on the same grounds as Washington Place. 

I began with a sketch of my 8 year old granddaughter, Leila.

A “backstage” tent was set up on the side lawn for performers.

My finished spread includes a group of performers, garden lamp, section of the mansion and side garden landscape. Leila has been going out sketching with me since she was 4 years old.

Leila likes sketching trees and people.

Leila's sketch of the hula chanter with her drum. Her 4 year old sister, Ocean, sketched the lanai roofline and trees. 

I took advantage of the opportunity to abandon a hand painted greeting card near the lanai. It vanished within 20 minutes!

Thanks to USK Oahu for making this rare experience possible at Washington Place.
Be sure to check out our sketches on Flickr !
See Urban Sketchers Oahu blog for more about this event.

Countdown to #USkGlobal24hrSketchwalk Four Days Left!

On Saturday, November 11, 2017, Urban Sketchers around the world will be participating in a 24 hour Sketch Walk to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Urban Sketchers. I'm going to start counting down today!

In addition, I am going to try something for the first time. I will abandon these 4 hand painted art prints, one a day, culminating with abandoning the last one on Saturday, Nov 11 at King Street station in Seattle!  Which one is your favorite?

See Art Abandonment Project here for more info. The image is fresh, printed from my original urban sketch drawn just a few hours ago and hand painted with watercolor! Please email me if you find one! Maybe with a photo of you finding it?

This morning I heard the street sweeper as he drove slowly around our neighborhood. Very rare on our street! I dropped my pen and lost a shoe in the rush to get the sketch before he was gone!

My original bona fide urban sketch, fresh off the sidewalk this morning!

See my Instagram feed for more photos of the excitement of urban sketching, posted in action!

Day 21, Wind in the Trees

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Wind in the trees, Day 21 for #worldwatercolormonth I just wanted you to hear them whispering in the wind. 

Wind in the Trees

These are the trees I planted 40 years ago with our children. Squirrels scamper up and down the trunks and a hawk uses the tallest ones as a lookout. Hummingbirds rest on the twigs, looking over my garden for something to sip. Here's a link to my 11 second video.

As usual, I am playing fast and loose with the "daily" prompts for WorldWatercolorMonth. I acutally just finished painting this today! 7/23/2017"Getting Wet"--I see there's still time, so I might find a way to add that one in as well. :)

A Blast from the Past in Georgetown

Seattle Urban Sketchers met in the Georgetown neighborhood this morning at the Bank of America (Georgetown branch) parking lot for July's monthly outing. It was the occasion of the 22nd Annual Georgetown Garden Walk.

On my drive towards the sketchers' meet up, I was looking forward to seeing the historical homes and luxurious gardens that the neighborhood had to offer. It was the first time I had been here with USk. Upon arrival, I received a map of the Garden Walk which listed 59 officially numbered options. Where to start?

As a group of us started walking down Carleton Ave S. towards the only known restroom provided, we saw unusual buildings (one with a question mark worked into the pattern of roofing shingles), a plein air painter working in oils, and lots of invitingly shady gardens.

We reached Oxbow Park and I realized I had found my subject, albeit not a garden. The largest cowboy hat in the world and a matching pair of gigantic boots stood proudly at the end of the park, remnants of the 50's. These unique buildings have been lovingly restored and moved here from the gas station they previously occupied. The boots were originally used as the gas station restrooms.

I found a shady spot at the west end of the park where Kathleen was also intrigued by the unusual shaped buildings. As I sketched, Joseph sang Native American songs, played the flute and accompanied himself on the hand drum. Across the street another relic of the '40's and '50's, a classic teardrop trailer, was all set up as a cupcake stand.

At 12:30 we shared our sketches. It was another beautiful summer day spent sketching in Seattle with the urban sketchers.

A Visual Timeline at 4th and Madison with USk Seattle

It wasn't raining (!) and there were actual patches of blue sky among the clouds on Friday morning when the USk Seattle Ad hoc outing took place. It was a bit chilly (59/60°F) out on the 7th floor terrace of the 4th and Madison building. We had a fantastic panoramic view in any direction which included most of the iconic landmarks one associates with the city of Seattle.

Almost everyone succumbed to the easterly view of St. James Cathedral, so tiny compared to the monolithic skyscrapers framing it on either side. As I sketched, a Boeing Jet briefly appeared through the gap on its way to SeaTac airport.

I love the way we have buildings from so many eras standing side by side in the downtown core. I sketched the Seattle YMCA (1930), the cathedral (1907) and the Former First United Methodist Church Dome (1910) as well as the Space Needle (1961) and the Darth Vader building (1979). The original 120 ft. dome of St. James Cathedral collapsed in 1916 and was never rebuilt. The present dome of the First Methodist Church is destined to become part of the new SLS Luxury Hotel, slated to open in 2017. Oh, and I snipped the Smith Tower sketch off my business card and added that previously sketched bit since it's my favorite building anyway. It's the oldest skyscraper in the city. You could see it easily by looking past the south side of the terrace.

We had a great turnout for a Friday. I am always impressed by the hidden gems that urban sketchers find to explore in the city. This lovely public garden is certainly one of them. A personal touchstone for me was the joy of sketching in the terrace garden with my granddaughter who is graduating high school this month. It was her first time with USk Seattle but I trust not the last.

May Challenge Options for the Indecisive

I just have to post this option for those who want to join a drawing/painting challenge in May. Charlie O'Shields over at doodlewash.com offers a set of unique prompts---textures. Something to capture the interest of the watercolor artist.

Hmm, maybe I will see how many of these I can combine with the ones Jutta Richter has on Flickr for EDM Every Day in May.

Can you do it? Be sure to add #worldwatercolorgroup if you post any of your efforts online! And have fun!

Spending Our One Sunny Day in Fremont with USkSeattle

'After all the recent rainfall, it was a beautifully sunny day at Hale’s Ales Brewery for the Urban Sketchers Seattle meet-up at 11 a.m. Since 1983, Hale’s claims to be the longest running, continually owned brewery, of any size, in the Pacific Northwest, and indeed one of the oldest in the entire U.S.

There were fascinating things (like a red London phone booth) to sketch inside, but the forecast is for another week of rain and I didn't want to waste our one sunny day! I found a great spot out back of the brewery at the corner of 8th Ave NW and NW 43rd. 

Who wouldn't want to bask in the warm sun while sketching a grain elevator with a worn out Moss Bay sign, a container with the word "clepto" spray painted in red on the side, a small spare tire secured with rope to the blue tarp on a storage bin and a nice big green dumpster? After a while, despite the sunshine, my hands did get cold so I went inside to see what the menu had to offer.

Along with lunch, a few of us ordered a flight of ales with interesting names like El Jefe Weisen, Red Menace, and NightTroll (a play on words referring to a nearby landmark, the Fremont Troll.)

I counted 23 sketchers today. I'm not surprised. When we get a sun break here in the Pacific NW we don't waste it! After sharing our sketches and getting a group photo in the Pub, I headed for one more spot on the way home.

I've been waiting for a sunny day and some good cast shadows so that I could sketch the old Everett Courthouse. These shadows weren't quite what I had in mind, but we have only one day of pure sunshine before it rains again!

The front steps are no longer used and some of the landscaping is getting a bit overgrown. It's an unusual type of architecture for our area, but Everett does have a few random Spanish style buildings, including the old courthouse. The shadows I wanted would have been better in about an hour but I felt uncomfortable alone in the deserted neighborhood.  So I quickly sketched an abbreviated version of the scene and went home to add color.

Update: I was notified that my sketch of the Old Everett Courthouse I added to the Flickr group Urban Sketchers Seattle has been selected to be its cover photo. See how it looks here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/seattlesketchers/

Pi Day Leftovers

Anyone for pie? Yes, I know that National Pi/Pie Day was four days ago, but it's taken me this long to digest the whole series of events that took place that day.

WIP-sketching at the kitchen counter

We weren't actually aware that it was Pi Day on Tuesday, but the overwhelming number of others who were observing the occasion possibly created a subliminal influence and we had pizza pie for dinner that night. After dinner our granddaughter texted from Haagen's, a local grocery store, to let us know that ALL their pies were half off! Well! We do like their chicken pot pies for a cozy dinner on a stormy night.

My husband grabbed the car keys and he was off! Some time later, he returned with most of what you see here! Four days later and I am overwhelmed with pie. I couldn't think of what to do other than put them all out on the counter and sketch them. I was planning on leftover pizza for a late lunch, but as usual, when I'm sketching food I forget all about eating it until after I finish sketching. I could smell it, though!

In an uncanny circumstance, I finished sketching at exactly 3:14pm. Huh!

Read my journal sketch page to see how I accidentally got even MORE pie from McDonald's!

Group Reportage from Manchester Symposium, Inside and Out

Since I won't be able to be there for our group reportage Seattle 10x10 USK workshop, June 17, I've decided to organize my sketches and post some thoughts from my experience at Marc Taro Holmes' symposium workshop last July. Finally!
Perhaps this will give those of you considering the Seattle version an idea of how it works. (We do have a few modifications to the procedure, timing, etc. for Seattle, so read the program for details.)

Knowing how much information Marc Holmes imparts in any one workshop, I had a clipboard and stack of laser jet paper as well as my usual sketchbook, pens, clips and other supplies. I'm glad I brought an adhesive tape runner so I could attach one of the card prompts he gave us.

OUTSIDE

We walked over to a plaza across the street from the museum where Marc gave us an overview of the workshop with examples and a demonstration.Then we went out to tackle our first assignment.

We no sooner began our 1 minute, 5 minute and 15 minute sketch drills than it started raining in earnest. We dashed in and out of the small lobby nearby between sketches. We shouldn't have complained. Take a look at the poor "Holme-less" students in another location that morning with Liz Steel!

INSIDE 

The unrelenting rain forced us into the museum, where we met in a top floor room. Marc dealt out two decks of his cards, face down on the table and we all picked one for the first assignment. Then it was down the wooden staircase, card in hand, in search of a subject to sketch.

I found a display case with incredibly detailed hand sewn dolls by Jane Livesy, inspired by "things with antennae". Her pencil sketches, hand stitching and carefully selected fabrics showed a meticulous depth of research into her subject. She inspired me to find things with antennae for the first part of my reportage assignment. The assignment was based on this clipped on card from Holmes' set.
         Butterflies have antennae! So it's down a flight of stairs to capture them. I admit I found it challenging to apply the concept of the prompt and opted for basic overhead views. While running up and down the Victorian staircases, time ran out before I could even get started on the bees.

Today, I've cut down the laser jet paper to fit my Pentalic Aqua Journal and attached it and other ephemera using a permanent adhesive tape runner.

INSIDE OUT

Sharing final results after round 2

It was raining so hard that I made my second sketch looking out a ground floor window at a huge monolith in a rear courtyard. Included in the photo is my prompt from Marc's set of cards, clipped to the board. Here, we are just beginning to share all our results from the group reportage. (Crummy exposure on this photo, though)
THOUGHTS

My Bee Collection Sketch

I found that many of the students needed first round and sharing after to get a grasp of how this group reportage works. I liked the fact that when we shared our sketches, we would see an entire composite of the site, not 15 views of the front of the building, or some other scene that most of us might choose to sketch on our own. The final share in Manchester was awesome! Thanks so much, Marc, for the education and  inspiration. Bravo for keeping everything going despite the weather!

Because bees are such a symbolic icon for Manchester, I really wanted to sketch them while visiting the city. I had to wait for another opportunity and the next day I finally found a small collection of bees in a drawer in the museum's children's activities room.