St. Patrick's Day with Shamrocks and a Gnome

A St. Paddy's Day outing with the Whidbey Island Sketchers at Bayview Farm and Garden with the focused intention of SKETCHING SHAMROCKS. I found a little corner for me and my chair, pulled plants and "stuff" from all over the greenhouse, built a little still life, and had "foine toime of it" for the day. Erin Go Braugh
I wondered why I was the only person sketching, then finished up, went outside, and found them all in the garden of the Flowerhouse Cafe, having a party without me!

"Tahitian Treasure Grandiflora" at Bayview Farm and Gardens

It was a beautiful day for sketching yesterday at the Nursery - sunny, dry, bright. The Laburnum Arch was slightly past its golden peak, but I wasn't in the mood for yellow paint, anyway.  I was in favor of a comfy place to sit to paint.  Luckily there was exactly that spot in among the roses - one of BF&G's brightly colored Adirondack chairs in the shade of a little tree. I plopped bush with gorgeous, electric pink blooms onto a cart and rolled it over by by me, et voila, perfect sketching under a brilliant blue sky. And it gave me a chance to test the luscious Quinacridone pinks, fuschias, corals, reds and rose tones on my paint chip card from Daniel Smith's.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR SKETCHING AT BAYVIEW FARM AND GARDEN

Our plan was just to sketch at Bayview Corner, but the day was so spectacular that we all naturally gravitated out back to the flowers and plants area outside the Farm and Garden Center.

Their Laburnum Arch was still pretty spectacular, even though it's blooming peaked last weekend. What a beautiful feature they have created there! So many people were coming through, just so see the golden blooms cascading down from the woven latticework overhead. It was fragrant and magical inside the tunnel of golden blossoms.

After I walked through the area several times, I chose as my sketching subject the little shed in the yard they use for storage. I loved it instantly, if for no other reason than the sign on the outside which reads "Bloom Where You Are Planted", one of my all time favorite mottos.

We had a nice turnout - I think we could thank the weather for co-operating for that! It was hard to resist trying to cram into the blossoms, for a "photo opportunity". We were only partially successful. 

Before I started sketching in the garden I met this old guy up on the porch at Star Store, just laying in the sun, waiting VERY patiently for his person to come out and pick him up so they could go home. He was a most obliging model.

This is my finished sketch of the shed.