ASIATIC LILIES AND LAVENDER AT FINE GELFAND'S HOUSE

It may have been Friday the 13th, but we, the Whidbey Island Sketchers, were having very GOOD luck, because we got to visit Fine and Jerry Gelfand's home in Greenbank. Set on high bank with a majestic overlook of Puget Sound in the Salish Sea, textile artist Fine has crafted a fantasy, secret sunken garden reached only by a meandering brick path down, down through lush vegetation and colorful flowers. At the bottom it all surrounds a glade, in the center of which stands an ancient Island boulder of epic proportions. Fine discovered on the hill, dug down to its base, then had it pushed with dozers down to its present location. 
From an artist/gardener's visionary eye and a tremendous amount of hard work the Gelfands carved all of this magic from the tangle of blackberry bushes they inherited with the purchase of the land. 

Pats House and Gardens - then and now

in August of 2015, the sketchers met to draw member Pat's new house, with its promise of gardens to come. She invited us to image what her plantings might look like. Now here it is, three years later, just before the fourth of July holiday, and her garden area has gone from sparse but full of potential, to bursting with colorful fulfillment. 

Sketching at the Beall Home

Today the Whidbey Island Sketchers were invited to the lovely home and gardens of Jan and Dick Beall, with a breathtaking view of Admiralty Passage and the Olympic Mountains in the distance. The sun was shining, a lovely breeze was blowing off the water, and, of course, the company was outstanding!
I decided to channel both Mike Burroughs and Tommy Kane, though I have neither Tommy's wit, nor Mike's architectural eye. So I deflected with a windsock, some birds and a kitty cat.

Sketching in Pat's Garden

Whidbey Island Sketchers member Pat Brookes invited us to her garden in Langley to sketch and socialize. It was a lovely day, with the sun peeking through the clouds. This, of course, gave me my now standard Sketcher's Sunburn. I didn't mind, as it was
warm and lovely, there were dozens of singing birds and flowers were blooming everywhere. I didn't want to paint green Green GREEN again, so I went in search of a view that would give me COLOR. I found just the spot, where I could see several different colors of green and yellow, a deep wine and brilliant vermillion Japanese maple, a planter pot with geraniums, some little bright blue blooms and a touch of yellow, and some distant purple iris. Lots of color! And a nifty little birdhouse tucked into the edge of the forest.