Farmer's Market

One of my favorite places to sketch: The Farmer's Market.

In May I took a intense course that gave me tools 

for developing a practice of daily sketching & art making.  

Lots going on for me now that the covid restrictions are off.

I appreciate being out & about more than ever before. 

Thank you for stopping by. It's been awhile.

Lists and Collections

 I recently wanted to buy a new handbag. 

There were so many styles that

I made notes. It was helpful, if not obsessive.

(Here, only a snippet of several pages.)

 This wasn't the 1st time. Some years ago, I had drawn a 

bunch of bags, & eventually cut some of them out

to save in one of my "repository", catch-all journals.

In 2011, at a city Farmer's Market, 

I devoted a page in my small sketch journal 

to various shoppers' bags. Fascinating variety!

An interesting book : Blackstock's Collections. 

He draws collections at a very intense & obsessive level.

Also interesting:

Lists, To-Do's: Illustrated Inventories

Collected Thoughts & Other Artists' Enumerations

A page from Lists, To-Do's...

Collecting quantities verses buying one of something 

has an economic tie-in in our consumer culture. 

Folks on YouTube show & tell us that they have not one,

 but a multitude of 

bags, notebooks, pens, shoes, etc. 

& they encourage us to buy more, more more.

(They are often given these things at no charge 

or at a  discount. Or, it is their profession.)

What does the average person do who can't afford 

or doesn't need too many of an item?

Me: I admit, sometimes I buy more than one...

But drawing is more affordable.

For a related post please click HERE to my post called

26 Mugs, 100 Monkeys. 

What would YOU choose to draw (or buy)

 if you had to have a collection of 100?

Maine Country Road Trips

Road trips in the countryside from Midcoast Maine. 

An idyllic corner on earth.

This is the region of many small, organic farms, 

2nd or 3rd generation of back-to-the landers:

Blackbrook Farm, Many Hands Farm, 

Sunnyside, Aqua Terra, Royal View Farm...

Many of the farms supply the food coops 

in Belfast & Brooks &

 sell their produce at farm markets and

the beloved Common Ground Fair in Unity. 

The views from the hilly roller coaster roads 

leading from Belfast to Unity, Brooks, Jackson, Monro

take my breath away!

A frequent road trip out of Belfast: Route 1 South.

Last week, like a kid on summer vacation

I was so excited to drive down to Rockport with a friend.

While she went to the doctor, I sketched out the window

of a café. Then we went to the Guini Ridge Nursery

across the road road to buy plants. 

To do a little farming of our own! 

For other posts on Farmers Markets and The Common Ground Fair, click on these in Labels.

Sketchbooks. End of 2018: Bring in the New, Continue the Old

 I have a new, larger sketchbook!! Paper Blanks, 7 X 9"!!

I use these for journal writing, but I got an extra one on sale

so I turned it into a sketchbook.

LAMY AL STAR fountain pens. I have "a few."

In the Wyeth Center at the Farnsworth Art Museum. 

The annual model train village, "Share the Wonder."

Sketching the mini buildings & cars is a fun way 

to work with linear perspective.

On the left: I sketched a line drawing that Jamie Wyeth

did when he was very young. Part of a series featuring

a Christmas wreath as a "character" in a medieval Christmas.

NC Wyeth's large painting: "The Morris House: Port Clyde". 

Can't do it justice with a quick sketch 

as the colors are so beautiful!!!

But sketching gave me the opportunity 

to scrutinize it more closely, & to gaze longer.

The Wyeth Center is only open a couple of more days.

I went to say good bye to the NC Wyeth paintings upstairs.

When they are back on display sometime, you have to come to Maine to see them in person!

And to see the Maine coast on which they are based!

I've been sketching in my usual 4 X 6" 

Pentallic Traveler Sketchbook.

It also doubles as my Art Learning Journal. 

Both live sketches & notes from books, 

museums, etc. go in there.

 Earlier in the month I went to the Farnsworth 

with an artist friend who wore an adorable felted hat

that she'd found at a thrift store. She sketched 

the gold dragon in the Chinese Zodiac exhibition.

She made a lot of people happy with that hat!

 Waiting in the small town post office line before Christmas.

A relatively small line in a relatively small town.

We enjoyed good natured conversations while waiting.

And for me, sketching made it go very fast.

At the Belfast Saturday Indoor Farmer's Market.

It is my Saturday morning ritual to go there. 

The vendors are not just farmers.

They are artisans, artists & musicians too.

They are local.

 LL Bean, the flagship store is like a theme park. 

There are these real stuffed animals on display.

While waiting for J to try on clothes, I sketched 

"The Three Headless Men of LL Bean." (my title.)

 Trip to Boston in November. QUICK sketches! 

It was my very fist visit to

The Granary Burying Ground. Boston's 3rd oldest cemetary

where many notable men 

from the American Revolution are buried.

 I guess the live people interested me 

more than the dead ones, though it was impressive.

 A quick stop to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. "Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World."

Subway Sketching, 

The Red Line from Cambridge back to Boston.

 Thanks for browsing through my sketches.

I wish you the happy pursuit of your passions

& pastimes in 2019.

Black & White in the Have Sketchbook Will Travel

I've been carrying the 4 X 6 Have Sketchbook Will Travel

everywhere I go.

Enjoying very fast, good old fashioned 

black & white sketching.

The 3 below were made at The Farnsworth Art Museum.

Fast & unfinished, a sketch of a favorite painting

by NC Wyeth.

 

A visitor looking a a display of art books outside

the Museum Store.

 

 Two from the Grocery Store Line Series.

(see previous post.)

 Yesterday I was making some notes from 

books on cursive handwriting at my library.

I was glad that

my little book & pen were standing by.

A little still life at a friend's home where

we were listening to a violin concert.

I got myself a seat in the back row 

so that I could sketch without being noticed. 

Below: At the Friday Morning Farmer's Market. 

I go each week partly for the produce, yes.

But it is the music & the happy gathering of people 

that I absolutely love!

 This one should be in color as she was dressed all in 

red, white & blue plaids & had a bright

stars & stripes umbrella! 

 Très chic, leaning against the swingset 

while children were swinging.

 The Flower Guy sitting in the door of his truck

chatting with shoppers.

 One of the farm tents, Peacemeal Farm.

Love the outdoor music concerts

& love the Belfast Bay Fiddlers.

(there were actually 8 or 10 of them that day.)

Do you carry a little notebook or sketchbook with you?

Mine is the Pentallic with very white paper,

but there are so many mini's these days!

You never know when you might need it!

Weekly Joy

Saturday morning Happy ritual: The Indoor Farmers' Market.

Weekly joy. 

With fewer tourists & crowds,

I'm bolder about sketching.

 

After: Another ritual: Library Date with my sweetheart.

We sit next to each other at a big wooden table. 

Shhhhh......

On a high shelf behind us: A soapstone statue.

I wrote: "Young Buddha is content, and so am I."

Sweetheart reads newspapers, and I...

...read & take notes from my current book.

This time it was Liz Steel's 5-Minute Sketching: Architecture.

I love her books, her blog, her site, her videos.

 And she gives online lessons. 

Click Here.

Do you have a daily/weekly/monthly ritual that brings you Joy?

Nourishing the Body and Soul in Winter

 Montessori education tells us to surround ourselves with all things beautiful, 

taking care with selecting our environment.

Since my move to the new studio (dining room), 

and since my increased museum attendance, 

I "curate" my shelves, making order, selecting, arranging, re-arranging.

(The book, top right, The Secret Lives of Color, 

Box of cards by a company called Retrospect.)

 Top, from the local Bright Bird Studio. Below, a shrine box by 

local artist Micaela Grasse. (I placed the little sign inside the window that says, "Good Health".) 

 Watercolor painting on my wall by local artist Ben Hall.

I love that it's a local scene, & love its abstract quality!

 Twinkle lights were up in November. 

They and Bright Birds, shiny baubles, cheer me. 

Colorful woven bowl by a local artist, 

& original illustrations by artist Melissa Sweet 

(also local though nationally known.)

   On a recent cold, gloomy, gray day I bought a sampler of glitter, 

to spark my spirit,

at the art shop on Main St. 

 

It worked, & I've used it on my latest coptic book 

which I stitched while sharing tea with a visiting friend.

She knit & I stitched in my sunny warm dining room.

And we chatted while the cold winds blew.

 Feeding my body (organic wild blueberries & organic rice cereal, 

feeding my soul, with color & art tools.

Since January 1, I read & copy passages from the book, Simple Abundance, into my morning diary, 

using the French translation. The author is all about

gratitude, appreciating life, inner happiness...

 The Library Sketchers group, which I have turned over to the group to lead now, 

still nourishes my love of drawing, 

& feeds me with inspiration & comaraderie. 

Artist Leslie gave us a presentation on paint brushes. 

She generously brought gazillions, & let us experiment with them!  

(the other page: sketching without my glasses 

at my local hair salon, looking into a big mirror.) 

 Leslie's brushes! Talk about abundance!

 Saturday morning, my body & soul get nourished at our indoor Farmer's Market. All local vendors & it has a European feel! This time of year, New Beat Farm had carrots, beets, rutabegas, and cabbage. I sketched, 

then bought a bunch of organic carrots, later made a vegetable soup.

My friend has a lemonade stand, adding hot chocolate & cider at this time of year! 

More to show in another post, but, in short, 

to be at her stand for me is like being in the film, Pollyanna, so much good feeling, color & prettiness!

Many older folks go to Florida in winter, but I love finding

sparkle, light, & color right here. All the more intense, perhaps, against the backdrop of neutral winter grays, umbers, siennas, and muted dark greens of the out of doors. 

Question: What do you surround yourself with?