Market of Choice, 29th & Willamette, Eugene, OR

   We were already busily at it when Ken showed up, but the activity always ratchets up when he’s there – taking photos of Barb Shirk’s work for his album of sketch samples, Jan looking on & cracking a joke, Hugh totally immersed in his return to sketching (a break from work), and Barb Sommers sharing her latest work.

  Barb Shirk showed how she resolved her last page, and Jan was interested in trying out the metallic crayons (Hugh, undisturbed).

         Barb Shirk starts playing with them and Jan quickly segues into using gel pen accents, while Barb Sommers sketches the crayons!

      Barb So also shared her sketch from Penelope’s, and Jane added watercolor to her version from another angle.

  Penelope continued her sketches taken from photos at the Jazz Station, which made us curious to go sketching there, too.

     Meanwhile, Jan had moved on to a sketch using Crayon d’Arche (& we were all missing Erik who uses them, too, but he was  home sick).

    What was Barb Sh sketching? Barb A looks on aghast at the photo of the spider Barb Sh found outside her house – terrific sketch begins.

     Meanwhile, Hugh (remember Hugh?) continues on his sketch from his iPad photo album, moving into adding color.

     In sharing some of his other work, he responds to Jane’s comments about liking the dark outline, by adding it to his current work. But what is Jane sketching? A ROOFTOP? Anything is game for her.

       And Ken, not being one to sit around, was up looking for a sketch subject – and looking down the aisles at the grocery store – aha!

    Back at the table, everyone is interested to see what he’s undertaken. Here’s his sketch to date (but he’s never done til he’s done, so keep checking back!).

Penelope’s Place, Eugene, OR

     It’s always such a treat to go to another artist’s home. Today we were invited to Penelope’s, and appreciated it’s charm – here’s Erik & Jan getting the kitchen tour from Penelope (note the biscotti), and Barb S-N and Ken appreciating Penelope’s grandfather’s painting.

    Two of the Barbs (So & S-N) look over Tricia’s sketchbook, then Barbs A & So get treated to a sample of sketch borders by Penelope.

     Jan was immediately intrigued with the design on a sofa pillow, and captured the design as well as the warmth & charm of the room.

           Barbs A & So were intrigued with the design on a bowl, while Jane sketched an orchid & bird on the table (color yet to be added).

     Erik got lost in thought as Ken & Barb S-N chatted. But wait….

Erik’s fingers flew into action to capture this friendly scene.

Here’s the crew today: Erik, Ken, Jane, Barb A, Jan, Barb S-N, Barb So, and Tricia – all thanks to our hostess, Penelope, taking the photo.

And here’s Penelope with the gang, thanks to Ken.

In addition to the yummy biscotti & coffee, the warm fellowship, doing interesting sketches, Penelope also gave a demonstration of how she uses computer software to create delightful tiny books. All in all, it was a memorable time!

5th St. Market, Eugene, OR

Here we are – Sandy, Ken, Satoko, Erik, Penelope, Barb So, Tricia, Barb A, & Jane (behind the camera) trying to contain our enthusiasm for sketching what catches our eyes and memories.

    Barb Sommers , Erik Johnson, & Tricia Clark-McDowell have sketches simply contained by space available.

   Ken starts sketching Erik, then frames the sketch (note his use of a fabulous 1.3 pencil, a gift from his granddaughter, Fiona). His choice may have been influenced by Sara Midda – http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2013/06/sara-midda-south-of-france.html

        Satoko sketches the woman in the booth beyond Tricia & Ken, then only colors part of the sketch; she adds a small box of color to another sketch, and Jane tells her to check out Mary Lou Goertzen: http://www.deadwoodtradingpost.com/MaryLou-Goertzen.html http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=mary+lou+goertzen

Jane says she’s been missing doing daily sketches, and plays with a possible sketch layout (but not monochrome sketches) for 2016, influenced by an Urban Sketcher from Russia, Ruslan Gonchar:

     Then Penelope breaks out her examples of hand made little books, full of tiny sketches and enticing quotes, which gets Barb A & Sandy & Ken busy writing them down. It’s hard to keep enthusiasm contained in our group!

5th St. Market, Eugene, OR

      Barb Shirk showed her work from last time, including a mandala she designed of her dachshunds chasing their tails (can you tell?)

   Barb Sommers put her sketches in little boxes, which led us to talk about spaces between boxes, things extending out of boxes….

        Jane decided boxes were a good idea! And here’s her final page.

     Erik revealed his planning process for his sketches, testing out color combinations, doing a rough sketch before a final color version.

      Then the snipping process was revealed – Barb Shirk had designed snowflakes based on people’s names! We were astounded!

      And in-between the cutting and folding, Penelope and Tricia got an email from Winnie Givot – they’re going on the trip to Siciliy in Sept.!

      Meanwhile, back at the sketchbooks, Tricia and Erik work on their sketches of the  poinsettia on the table.

5th St. Market, Eugene, OR

     Nothing like sharing an exciting trip – here Joby shares information about the trip she & her husband just went on to Oaxaca, Mexico, while Barb Sh., Jan, & Sandy look on with interest…maybe we might want to go there, too!

    Among the treasures she brought back were handmade books, with handmade papers and block prints – Sandy & Ken were particularly interested.

    Of course there was a slide show, too, featuring landscape as well as charming designs. We were quite enchanted by her presentation.

      But best of all were Joby’s sketches done while she was there.

      When Joby was done, Barb Shirk had the opportunity to share her latest sketchbook page with Ken. And here’s the sketch Jane did today with artifacts gathered from the 5th St. Market stairs!