Eugene, Oregon, USA

We are a group of artists who came together on a 2006 sketchbook tour of the hillside towns in Umbria, Italy.   Ken O’Connell(center), art professor emeritus at the University of Oregon, initiated the tour, and led it again in 2008 (when three newcomers joined us.) Starting at high noon above:  Barbara Epplett, Jane Harrison, Erik Johnson, Hugh Larkin, Sandy Larkin, Joby Patterson, Bill Sperling, Eshkie Zachai, Barbara Aten, Anne Bonine, Jan Brown, and Nancy Burdick.

Our backgrounds and experiences differ, but we enjoyed sketching together in Italy so much that we continued to meet weekly after we returned home to Eugene (new friends & visitors are welcome).  We sketch together, go to art events together, take classes and workshops together, share techniques and tools, travel together, and generally cheer each other on in our artistic explorations.

We have collected some of our sketches in four books, which can be previewed and ordered at Blurb.Com:

Top Drawers on Tour: Italy
Top Drawers on Tour: France
Top Drawers on Tour: Near and Far
Top Drawers Sketching in the Time of Covid