sketchbook

Holiday Window Box

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Lisa and I spent a wonderful day yesterday on Outer Cape Cod. The weather was amazing for December and people were strolling the streets and shopping in the village of Chatham, Massachusetts. This sketch is from a photo that I took of a window box at an information booth all decorated for the holiday. Brightly colored ornaments with fishing net and seashells. It was beautiful and the epitome of Cape Cod. Faber-Castell Pitt pens with Holbein and Mission watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

2015-12-26 Holiday Window Box

Christmas

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Our Christmas Tree on Christmas morning. The tree always warms up the house this time of year and we are sad when we take it down. The actual tree used for a Christmas tree is like any other pine tree. The magic comes when you decorate the tree with lights, ribbons and ornaments that have special meaning from friends, family, milestones and travel. Faber-Castell Pitt pens with Daniel Smith watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

2015-12-25 Christmas

Christmas Eve

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A beautiful festive evening with wonderful friends. A powerful Christmas Eve Mass followed by conversation and a lovely dinner. Dinner was an Italian tradition –  the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Shrimp cocktail, Grilled Oysters, Crab dip, and an amazing linguini with seafood marinara sauce. The sauce was flavorful jarred tomatoes and herbs from a neighbors garden, garlic, clams, mussels, calamari, scallops and lobster. Fantastic dish and great work by Keith. Before heading to Mass, we stopped at Island Creek Oyster Company in Duxbury, Massachusetts for the freshest and most flavorful oysters on the East Coast. I grilled these with a little butter and herbs over charcoal. Fantastic celebration. Faber-Castell Pitt pens in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

2015-12-24 Island Creek

 

Believe

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The Sleigh Bell reminds me of my favorite modern Christmas movie, The Polar Express. On Christmas Eve, a boy witnesses a train called the Polar Express that is about to depart for the North Pole. Once at the North Pole and Santa’s sleigh is loaded with gifts. As the reindeer are prepared and  Santa arrives, One bell breaks loose from a harness, and the hero boy retrieves it. He first hears nothing, but when he believes, he hears a sound. Santa entrusts the boy the bell as “The first gift of Christmas”. Santa leaves with his reindeer, and a band plays in celebration. The next morning, the boy’s sister wakes him up to open presents, including the bell he lost. The parents hear nothing, and the boy leaves it on the table. The narrator ends the story by saying the bell only rings for those who truly believe. Watercolor and Gouache in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

2015-12-21 Sleigh Bell

A Christmas Carol

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Tonight we had the pleasure of attending a production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The play was put on by the Bay Colony Shakespeare Company and performed solo by Neil McGarry. Neil did an amazing job in playing all of the parts with proper tones, accents and emotion. It is amazing that he can perform the entire 2 hour show with only a small break and no notes. It was a very moving performance and it gets in you the right state of mind for the season. This sketch is of a fictitious English scene from Dickens’ era with the fog and snow making the scene soft and moody. Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors in a Beta series Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
2015-12-20 A Christmas Carol

 

Serenity Chatham

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This fishing boat had a perfect name for the scene of Chatham Harbor at the Fish Pier. The water was calm and a deep blue with the reflections of the sunset behind me in the clouds. While I was standing at the quay, a harbor seal just below me swam by slowly on his back enjoying himself. It was a wonderful pleasure to see the seal so peaceful and probably closer than you would see in an aquarium. A wonderful experience and true serenity. Pilot Falcon fountain pen with Noodler’s black ink and Daniel Smith watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

2015-12-18 Serenity Chatham