Some beautiful natural birch trees along our driveway in our front yard. I have always loved the texture and color of the birch bark as it peels. In the fall, the leaves turn a bright yellow early in the foliage season as a contrast to the greens and browns of early fall. Lamy fountain pen with Noodler’s black ink, Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Alpha Sketchbook.
A quick ink sketch of the Gateway to Cape Cod. This monument is located on Route 28 as it enters Wareham, MA and is paired with a similar one on the other side of the street that says Wareham, Massachusetts, Incorporated 1739. Wareham is often considered the gateway to the cape in that it is the last town on the mainland before crossing the bridges to the cape. Lamy fountain pen with Noodler’s Black Ink in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
There are so many varieties of asters that grow in the Northeast and I might have been hasty in noting that this was the Frikarth “Monch” variety. After further research, I believe that is actually could be the Aster Laevis “Bluebird” in the front planting bed in the front of our house. The ‘Bluebird’ is a superlative selection of the native smooth aster. This tall, vase-shaped wildflower has large 1″ diameter blue flowers held in cloud-like clusters at the tips of the arching branches. Staking is helpful by late summer if you forget to pinch. Aster laevis is a great source of nectar for migrating monarchs and other late season butterflies. Holbein watercolors with Pitt Art pens in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
Chapel of the Good Shepherd, together with the organ in it, and have it dismantled and transported to Wareham. The Church of the Good Shepherd was founded in 1868 as the Church of the Saviour and held services at various locations until 1871. In 1883, the parish voted to purchase the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, together with the organ, and have it dismantled and transported to Wareham, Massachusetts. The chapel was built in 1871 as a mission of Christ’s Church in Springfield, MA. Upon arrival in Wareham, it was erected on the present site on High Street on land donated by Mrs. Tobey. The church was consecrated as the Church of the Good Shepherd in 1883. The exterior of the building acquired in 1883 was wooden, and had a tall slender finger spire at the main entrance, which was the door behind where the organ now stands. The stone bell tower was erected in 1915 as a memorial to Mrs. Tobey and the church exterior was stuccoed at this time. Lamy fountain pen with Noodler’s Black ink and Pitt gray pens in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
Lighthouse Beach in Chatham, Massachusetts, is a beautiful, large beach close to the center of the picturesque town of Chatham. It is located across the street from a small Coast Guard Station and the Chatham Light lighthouse. This area was not much of a beach until the Great Barrier Beach broke due to pounding storm swells and hurricanes. The Chatham Break, as it is called, is a growing ocean channel between Nauset Beach and Monomoy Island. This new channel has shifted a significant amount of sand from the north to the south and created this magnificent beach. Nauset Beach protects it from heavy swells, but you can watch the waves crest about 200 yards away at the break. Beach grass, small dunes, and million-dollar homes surround the vast sand beach. Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
A beautiful drive on Cape Cod and we came across a great farm stand. The forty-acre farm is run by Howard Crowell his son Paul, and grandson Jason. In 2016, we will be celebrating their one-hundredth year of providing fresh produce and other local products to our community. It is one of the only farms on Cape Cod to grow apples (15 unique varieties!), pears, peaches, and sweet corn, locally known as “Crow Farm Corn.” In 1916, David and Lincoln Crowell purchased forty acres of farmland and began a family tradition that has continued into the next century. The current farm stand opened on Route 6A in 1960. Lamy Safari fountain pen with Noodler’s black ink and Pelikan watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
Cranberries are low, creeping vines up to 7 feet long and 2 to 8 inches in height; they have slender, wiry stems that are not thickly woody and have small evergreen leaves. The flowers are dark pink. They are pollinated by bees. The fruit is a berry that is larger than the leaves of the plant; it is initially white, but turns a deep red when fully ripe. It is edible, with an acidic taste that can overwhelm its sweetness. Most cranberries are processed into products such as juice, sauce, jam, and sweetened dried cranberries, with the remainder sold fresh to consumers. Cranberry sauce is a traditional accompaniment to turkey at Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom and Thanksgiving dinners in the United States and Canada. Lamy fountain pen with Noodler’s Black Ink and Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
Fall in New England is almost all about the fall colors which are spectacular. The trees are just starting to turn here in southern New England as you can see in my sketch. The fall is also cranberry season in New England. This sketch of a cranberry bog near our house shows another vibrant color of the fall. This bog is being wet picked, which means that the bog is flooded with water and the berries are dislodged from the vines and float to the surface. The wind usually pushes them to one end of the bog where the berries are corralled and sucked up into waiting trucks. This method of picking can only be used for juices in that the berries get water logged and cannot be used as fresh fruit. A beautiful site as you travel around this area and see the flooded bogs with the vibrant pink-burgundy berries floating. Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Alpha series sketchbook.
Autumn, interchangeably known as fall in North America, is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter, in September, when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier and the temperature cools considerably.Association with the transition from warm to cold weather, and its related status as the season of the primary harvest, has dominated its themes and popular images. In Western cultures, personifications of autumn are usually pretty, well-fed females adorned with fruits, vegetables and grains that ripen at this time (or a scarecrow in this case in front of our favorite coffee shop).
This is a sketch of one of the large (6 feet tall) lanterns that flank the main entrance to the Post Office in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The lanterns are frosted glass with the metal work being a bronze or brass with a beautiful patina. Faber-Castell Pitt Art pens in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
A SKETCHBOOK ODYSSEY 