Beautiful Blooming Bonsai

Many of the plants were in full bloom when we visited the enchanting Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt. Thank you to the gardeners, hosts and the City of Oakland for creating and sustaining this amazing place and encouraging our sketching!

Public Night at Whole Foods

...the vegetables and fruits were very good models. I wanted to keep it short and loose so I used watercolor pencils and a waterbrush, and gave myself no more than 20 minutes per sketch.

Alviso Slough April Showers

Between showers, I could see the mustard growing by the slough.

The small yellow entrance to the boardwalk.

The clouds over  the hills were reflected in the water.

Sketching in the Field(work)

What a wonderful place to sketch! I focused on the landscape of steel containers. Please see other sketches from Fieldwork on this blog.

More Sahara

Tea Service
Owner Mostafa wanted to have a Couscous Party to celebrate and show "our gratitude towards our friends and our clients who supported us through 11 years in business." And what a celebration it was! Thank you so much for your warm hospitality Mostafa over the years.  

Chama, Yassir, and Mostafa (l to r)

The Ruth Bancroft Garden Menagerie

Swimming fish, metallic spiders and other critters clustered underneath the Blue Oak.

Down the path were the sculptural cacti. Please see previous sketches.

Cruising and Sketching along the Napa River

Fast Train on the Brazos Bridge
The SF Bay Area Urban Sketchers were invited by Ling Liao and Carol Sutton to participate in a Cruise and Sketch outing on the Napa River organized by Joan Primeau and others.. Over 30 painters and sketchers launched out of the Vallejo Ferry area on a Dolphin Carter boat under bridges and past old salt ponds, wetland habitats, island dwellings and WWII historic sites. Thank you Ling, Carol, Joan, all the participants and Dolphin Charters!!

Edgerley Island

Mare Island Causeway Bridge with the Hwy 37 Bridge in the background

Jo-Ann's Fabrics

I liked the contrast between the pattern models poses with attitude and the mannequin.

The Claremont Diner

The Claremont Dinner, in Oakland, is a favorite neighborhood  place. The owner and staff are hospitable. The classic diner fare (with a few mid-Eastern and Mexican dishes) is tasty and the mid-century diner vibe makes it so sketchable! 

Ai Weiwei @ Large on Alcatraz

"With Wind"
I cannot stop thinking about this and the other installations and their messages of human rights.
Bravo to Artist Ai Weiwei for the art the speaks so eloquently, the FOR-SITE Foundation for their vision, and the National Park Service for providing the appropriate venue for this experience.  Please see Cathy's earlier post with more info.

AND GO!

Some More Serrahna Sketches

The Serrahna boutique, in Oakland's Rockridge District, showcases the unique clothes crafted from the stunning fabrics of Indian. The boutique was created in 2002 by Andrea Serrahna who also designs the clothes. Andrea works with artisans and tailors to bring them to life in her store. This collaboration helps sustain the crafts people and their textile arts and skills. We appreciate Andrea's invitation to sketch and enjoyed her warm hospitality.  Please see the cards and website listed below to learn about Serrahna. 

The Happy Dragon of Children's Fairyland

This happy dragon greeted me at Children's Fairyland located near the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland. It was my first time at this this wonderful theme park for kids. Thanks to C.J. Hirschfield, Executive Director, and Shannon Taylor, Director of Art and Restoration, we were able to come out, explore, and sketch! Please enjoy the other sketches of Children's Fairyland previously posted on this blog.

Alviso Slough

Alviso is a small, distinct community in the northern end of San  Jose.  I sketched where the  Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek converge into the Alviso and Mud Sloughs out into the SF Bay.

Historically, Alviso was the boating and shipping port of San Jose. Steamboats travelled between Alviso and San Francisco. Now elevated pathways with gated doors cross the sloughs for hikers and birdwatchers.

Fishermen visit the sloughs as well. (I got sketchier at the end of the day!)

Sketching at Serrahna

We stepped out of the cold grey dusk into Serrahna where we were welcomed by Andrea Serrahn to sketch. I was dazzled by the beautiful colors and textures  of the clothing and handicrafts in her boutique. It was hard to select what to sketch (and not browse)! 

In, Out and About Boston

Inspired by Cathy's account of visiting the John Singer Sargent  Watercolors at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston  (see Cathy's post elsewhere in this blog), my friend Ann and I took off the following week to see this once-in-a lifetime exhibition (see www.mfa.org). In between indulging in Sargent's  rich plein air works and my attempts to sketch his compositions, we "cleansed the palette" sketching Dale Chihuly's 42 '  Lime Green Icicle Tower  at the MFA's ground floor.

We also travelled around town one day. I loved the water taxis!

The horses were all decked out.

While hiking the Freedom Trail, we took a break at the Brewer Fountain. Someone had placed a red apple on one of the figures' lap.

Dia De Los Muertos Festival 2013

Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is based on indigenous beliefs going back thousands of years in Meso-American cultures. Today the celebrations focus on family and friends remembering those who have passed.  Micaela and I visited this year's events in Oakland's Fruitvale Village  (please see her previous post). The place was redolent of marigolds wrapped around the light poles and placed in alters. Papel picado (cut tissue papers) banners draped at the entrances of the vendors' tents. I couldn't sketch quickly enough to do the Aztec dancers justice; they were amazing as they danced in the corridor bisecting the  booths.  

Sketchcrawl July 12-14, 2013

Warming up at Picante's.

Ferry Building SF

Lake Merritt Draws!

Sketching Vilnius, Lithuania

Street Scene, Vilnius

I had an opportunity to go to Vilnius, Lithuania this summer. Vilnius has so much green space – I heard about 70% of the city. The river Neris runs through the middle of Vilnius and a smaller river, Vilnia, lies to the east of the old town. Vilnius’ old town centre is on UNESCO’s World Heritage list because of its architectural heritage. Historically, Vilnius has experienced numerous attacks and invasions and is still marked by the effects of the Nazi and Soviet occupations.

Here are my sketches depicting street scenes, cafes, churches, and displays in the Museum of Genocide Victims and the Amber Museum. I also ventured out and sketched Europas Parkas (swathed against mosquitos).

Flower Seller, Vilnius

Flower Seller

Street Scene

Church of the Holy Trinity

Gas Masks and a cross from a grave.

A tank

Down the steps to the KGB Cells

Lizard embedded in Amber, Amber "fruit" on trees and Amber floats

Sonia sketching

Dancers

Yarn "bombed" trees

The Neris River

View from Skybar