Thank Frank

These are little sketches done at our recent USk Chicago meet. So much to see and so much to take in, I opted to sketch some of the details on the Chicago Avenue side of his home and studio. The first is one of the sculptures above the walkway to the hidden door. The second  is of the tourists and the reliefs that line the walkway. The third is a detail of the reliefs – the repeated stork motif and lastly a rough rendition of the logo.

Now I must go back to Oak Park and actually sketch Wright's glorious buildings! There was so much to take in at once.  In a five block area there are about seven houses designed or remodeled by Wright. What a feast for the eyes and imagination. The overall feeling of his work is monumental but his attention to detail is what really amazed me. It was a quite a day!

And thanks to the visitor from Manchester UK who took our picture! Safe and happy travels!

Belated Introduction -

My name is Carole Hennessy and I am a watercolor artist living in Chicago. I am out regularly to sketch and paint with Barbara and the Monday Sketch Group but have not yet been able to make it to one of the Urban Sketchers outings. I was always a studio painter until 8 years ago when I finally decided to try some plain air work and figured out what worked best for me. Now my outdoor works helps to inspire my studio practice. I enjoy the challenges working on location brings and the interaction with my fellow artists and the public. The painting shown here is from a recent visit to Olive Park, what a lovely day!

51 of my recent small watercolors will be part of an exhibit opening at the Chicago Artists Coalition Gallery, 217 N. Carpenter St, Chicago, on Friday, September 14 thru October 2. The opening reception is Friday from 6-9 pm. The gallery will be open weekdays 9-5, Saturdays 12-6 and also on Sunday, September 23, when we will be doing demos. Mine is scheduled for 12-1 that day.

Back to the Bean

It was"back to the Bean"in more ways than one. This week our Monday sketch group met at the Bean in Millennium Park. I've sketched there several times this summer so this time I chose a different point of view. I sat with my back to the sculpture. A beautiful day, great company and sketching – a delightful start to the week!

Gamla Stan means The Old Town

Continuing with my great Stockholm Sketching Adventure here are some sketches from Gamla Stan, Stockholm. Gamla Stan means The Old Town, and it is indeed very old. Many structures there date back to 1600′s, with some going as far back as 12th century.

I sketched this sitting in a cafe on the intersection of three streets, Norra Bankogrand is the street in the sketch. It leads to the piers, there between the buildings, and Baltic sea.

I was so lucky to be able to get together with Nina Johansson, and we sketched in the Old Town in Skeppar Olofs Alley. The first mention of this little street goes back to 1587. I was sitting on a stoop behind Nina and was able to get her into my sketch.

We only had 30 minutes in the Skeppar Olofs because we were meeting Ed Harker at the Stortorget, the Big Square in Gamla Stan. Ed is a sketcher from Bath, England. At Stortorget we sat in a cafe sketching, and my view just happened to be The Swedish Academy and Nobel Museum - the place where they make decisions on Nobel Prize winners every year since 1901.

In Gamla Stan any direction you face there's going to be something beautiful and historically significant.

Sketches of Stockholm

I was incredibly fortunate to have traveled to Stockholm last month - August 2012. My husband was invited to present in Stockholm University, and I just had to come along. This was my Great Stockholm Sketching Adventure. I went with a goal to sketch. And sketch I did. I almost finished the sketchbook I took with me and brought back incredible visual memories. It will take several posts to share them, so I better start.

Here we are in O'Hare waiting to board our plane.

This is Södertörn högskola - South Stockholm University - where Lou was a keynote speaker at a conference titled "What is Empathy and what do we need it for?" The incredible giant basalt rock is a centerpiece of the campus.

Meanwhile Back at the Bean

Cloud Gate, a.k.a.  the Bean, in Millennium Park in Chicago is a go-to-place for tourists and artists alike. Watching as people experience the Bean for the first time is great. It brings out "the kid in the funhouse" in everyone. As you can see from Alex's post, it was a fun outing for Urban Sketchers Chicago to meet with Miriam from Munich. What a great time! Thanks to Alex and Miriam for setting it up!

Our Monday sketch group was there yesterday but sadly, I couldn't make it. (Um - maybe not so sadly since it was raining all day.) I've sketched many of the features of Millennium Park but I figured I'd post sketches from a few past outings to the Bean. Different size sketchbooks, different types of paper, different levels of success but it's always worth the trip! I highly recommend it!

Sketching with Miriam

The Bean - Sketching with Miriam in Millennium Park

We have hosted our first visiting Urban Sketcher! Miriam Ben from Munich Germany was in Chicago on a business trip and wrote to me about sketching together. I was delighted! To me half of the fun of Urban Sketching is meeting other sketchers.

I put a call out on USK Chicago FB. Miriam had some air travel delays (air travel grrrr!) and finally arrived a day late. The four of us - Barbara, LuEllen, Martha and myself - met Miriam at the Palmer House and took her to sketch to Millennium Park, to The Bean. Officially it is Cloud Gate sculpture, but I don't know any Chicagoan who uses this.

Miriam, it was wonderful meeting you! You must come back, we'll sketch some more!

Here we are sketching.

Alex, Miriam, LuEllen, Martha and Barbara

And here there are suddenly more of us!

USK Next Generation: Giola, Lucia, Robin and Pablo

A group of kids got very interested in what we were doing. Pablo discovered us first, but wanted to keep this discovery to himself. He kept sending the rest of the kids back their parents. But Giola, Lucia and Robin would not be deterred and milled around. Then they wanted to draw with us. Sheets of paper and pencils were produced and shared, and we were in business! Then Lucia wanted to paint! Then the others wanted to paint! No problem! Paint we all did.

Miriam was fast and made a delightful sketch of the young artists.

Our sketches

Tourists photographed us several times as a local curiosity: "Look, Mike! Chicago artists! Quick, take my photo with them!"