Jane's Santa

ATC by Jane

Nov. 2014

ASk at Carolyn's

Joy

Art and life

Michele's Sketch Journal Spread

There were so many great sketches today. Check back as the artists post them. 

Smugglers' Cove

A welcome place to sketch on a cold November day. 

There were lots of choices to be made: coats on or off, shop or sketch? Why choose when you can do it all?

Anacortes has unlimited choice of subject matter, no matter what the season. Indoors or out, there is bound to be the challenge of choosing from more than what one could sketch in a lifetime.

This is especially true of our location at Smugglers' Cove on Commercial Street this afternoon. Thanks to Kristen, the owner, we were invited to come in from the cold on this chilly autumn afternoon. Smiles, happy greetings, hugs and lively conversation ensued! We tried on vintage hats, recognized toys from our childhood and marveled at the eclectic bounty from which to draw. Everyone eventually found a little spot, or two, of their own. Gradually, with concentrated focus on our sketchbooks, the shop became quiet and I overheard Kristen on the phone in the other room; "......I've got sketchers here....."

The Cardinal Cafe

While sketching at Gordon's a couple of weeks ago we came upon the Skagit Valley College culinary arts students.  We were told that they cook gourmet lunches for the public.  Everything is made from scratch.  Jerlyn, Linden, Kalena, and Missy headed over this afternoon to try it out.  What a treat!!   The service was suberb and the visiting chef from Puerto Vallarta came out to the table to tell us about his Mexican cuisine which included plantain appetizer with tomatillo guacamole, shrimp serviche, salmon tents (?), empanadas, and mango sorbet swimming in hibiscus consommé with a fushia sugar spoon!!  Wow! Of course, we sketched.

The Shabby French Market

It felt so very French with 1940's jazz and pop tunes on the air. I turn a corner and there's a picture on the wall in a little alcove. It's a sepia photograph of a carriage driving down the wide dirt street of Commercial Avenue in 1910 and the Keystone Building is on the corner. That building now has a shop called The Shabby French Market, the perfect place to sketch on a rainy autumn afternoon.

The Keystone Building then (1910) and now. 

I spent a wonderful day downstairs with the Anacortes Sketchers, drifting through time from one spot to another on a journey of discovery.

From top: Carolyn, Anne & Missy, Jane