Apple-Pine: friendship

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Seattle 2025: Sketcher Fest Edmonds - Part 3: The experience (in sketches and IDEAS for the next time)

I just posted an attempt to summarize my experience at Edmonds Sketcher Fest in words and photos.

And these are my sketches made during all the little and big things that happened during the weekend.

I wish I had sketched more! Next time I will:

- do a portrait party with all who could be persuaded;

- find a way to attend more artist talks (can we have a volunteer man the table from time to time during the sketchbook fair?)

- Find a company to draw sunrises and not only sunsets.

- bring some stickers to share (I got a collection from other artists!)

- petition for a "private viewing" hour before the sketchbook fair opens up to go and flip through sketchbooks of other artists;

- ask people all the questions I was shy to ask :)

Seattle 2025: Sketcher Fest Edmonds - Part 3: The experience (in words and photos)

As I look back at my experience of being part of the International Festival of Travel Sketchbooks (Edmonds Sketcher Fest), I think that what made it super special was the many opportunities for connecting to people in so many different forms.

I lead a wonderful group of 15 people on a workshop, but also:

- had a chance to present an art talk (more below);

- I attended a couple of art talks by other guest artists between all the other activities;

- spent a whole day at the sketchbook fair sharing with attendees my actual sketchbooks, tools, and process, answering questions, and collecting interesting insights;

- participated in a dinner event where people had a chance to share both meal and conversation with guest artists and with many guests of the Sketcher Fest;

- went on numerous outings to draw a sunset, or morning swimmers in a fog, or to grab an ice cream, lunch, dinner, nightcap - all while sketching, looking through sketchbooks of other people, and talking about all sorts of things, life- and sketching related.

Here are some photos from the sketchbook fair and other outings - on them you will find all the guest artists though I have to admit some were present only in the form of their elbow or sign - I will try to make better photos next time! :) A list of all the artists and information about them can be found here:
https://sketcherfest.com/sketchbook-fair/sketchbook-fair/ I salute and thank every one of you - and I am very grateful for an opportunity to meet, connect and sketch side-by-side!

Image above is how my table at the sketchbook fair looked like.

My art talk was on a subject that is one of my favorite topics: extreme sketching. I gathered examples from my experience in all sorts of situations. From kayaking to skiing, from riding a horse to taking care of humans ages 0 to 96, and of course, sketching while scuba diving! My talk covered both what to bring with you on an adventure like that and how to survive it. And I enjoyed answering many questions and receiving lots of great advice as to where to go scuba diving next!

Thank you Laurie Wigham for making this wonderful sketch of me giving an art talk! (photo above).

Lastly, this was a chance to meet many new people, make great friends, and also connect in real life with many online sketching friends whom I've known for years now! This connection to the community was such a luminous gift!

It would be impossible for me to list all the encounters and thank all the people that I was so happy to connect with - so I will just say a huge THANK YOU to the organizers of Sketcher Fest and all the volunteers, and Gabi Campanario in particular for support throughout the preparation and during the event. Here is to sketching together more!

An Orchard Past Its Prime: Saratoga

For several years now Suhita Shirodkar and I have made a pilgrimage to paint at the orchard by the Saratoga Public Library. Knotty, shapely, dark silhouettes of fruit trees covered in gentle white blossoms, lots of space between us and Santa Cruz Mountains, and yellow mustard fields are what we are after. This year we were joined by Laurie Wigham whom we promised all the things we hoped to see. However, the orchard was quite different. It was an unusually hot day for March (it reached 83F where we were located), a few days prior we had a storm, and most of the blossoms were gone. And on top of it, all the ground was thoroughly plowed - there were mustard plants here and there but no feeling of a "carpet". Our reality did not match our expectations, to say the least.

But a huge oak tree had a very dense shadow, and the gnarliness of the trees could not be erased by wind or tractor! Plus all sorts of creatures came over to be with us while we painted - and by the end, it was a wonderful outing of talking and drawing side-by-side with great people and it filled my cup at least as much as I expected - if not more!

A day of rest in an otherwise crazy week.

Last week was very complicated on many levels. Yet there was a scheduled day of rest (the concept of Shabbat (which I take on unspecified days) was really helpful.

On Election Day I went to the magical forest and garden in Santa Cruz Mountains to be with my friends. The fall is not here yet and we had gorgeously clear weather with golden light. This day was a part of my work to get a hold of the election anxiety. We were disconnected from all the news for a whole day. It was a gift of being among like-minded people, in nature, using our hands, doing things we love, trying some new stuff, failing and succeeding in our experiments, laughing, thinking, trying again, sharing a meal, conversation, and silence.

That day and knowing that I am not alone and many people share my values and are ready to work together and make choices for a world of more kindness and justice and less greed and aggression are some of the things that helped me put one foot in front of another during this week. Thank you, Gay and Suhita and the wonderful neighborhood of people who care!

Everyday Life: Grateful.

I am drawing through a rather hectic time - lots of things are moving in different directions, and between deciding how to answer the big life questions and tiny life questions I am adding lines to my pocket sketchbook. I draw a neighbor in the line while waiting. Our nonagenarian while visiting. My friend's kitchen while sipping delicious chai. Drying flowers. Workers. Everyday stuff.

One thing I am sure of: when everything is in flex and feels like you are not sure where is up or down or when everything feels like you almost know what you are doing - and during all the times in between - having people who support you is precious. Thank you!

Click on the images to see them larger and read the notes if you wish.

A long-awaited meet-up

This week I got to spend some time sketching with friends - Suhita Shirodkar, Shari Blaukopf, Brenda Swenson, Gay Kraeger, and Elyse Fairweather. Some of them came from afar - it was a special treat and something we've been trying to pull off for quite some time!

We went to the magical garden and forest in Santa Cruz Mountains to see Gay and Elyse and had a blast trying to fit a gigantic redwood in our sketchbooks. We listened to birds and water and looked for frogs in a fountain. We smelled flowers, played with materials, flipped through each other's sketchbooks, and drew oranges outdoors, and humans indoors.

Chatting about life's big and small things, sharing some food, and ideas, and looking at the clouds. Below are my drawings and some photos from our adventures. And attached to them are some really good memories and a feeling of joy of friendships - and that is such a gift! Thank you to all who made this week special!

Sketching with a friend

I went to sketch with a friend this week. It was pretty warm, the squirrels were running around us, the shade left our bench pretty quickly. But we had a good time - exchanging some news on the kids and parents, dismaying at the current state of the world, discussing latest set of favorite sketching tools and some plans. I picked up a branch of interesting-looking seed pods on the way home. These oaks are asking to be sketched again!

Feeling loved.

I received two wonderful presents from a friend recently: two gorgeously red and magnificently fuzzy socks! It's been quite warm so I considered them as two presents: I could not wear both for I would overheat. But tonight we are waiting for rain and it is such a pleasure to put them both on and feel warm and loved by a friend - from far away yet close. Thank you, dear M!