Wade Lagoon Mermaids

Met a new sketcher this morning at Wade Lagoon. She picked this location behind the mermaid statue. I would have never picked it on my own, but I am so thrilled that she did. Also, we were sitting in the sun, which I normally don't do because I'm so pale. But, I had loaded on sunscreen and gave it a shot. It was so nice. The sun was warm, but not too hot. The temperature was mild, and there wasn't any humidity. And, it was fun watching the geese play around, beg for bread, and chatter with each other.

This upcoming week is going to be very busy, so I'm not sure if I will have the time to set up somewhere to sketch. So, it was good that we did over 3 hours of sketching this morning.

Cleveland Irish Festival

If you have followed my for any amount of time, you would have noticed that I don't normally draw people. I don't have a phobia of drawing people, it's just that they move too much. So, I sat down during the Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival to draw the harpist. He had played during the morning mass, and he had tried to teach us some Gaelic for one of the hymns. Gaelic, even a small hymn, cannot be taught in a few minutes.

Well, while I sat there drawing later in the early afternoon, I thought, "Oh, a harpist, he won't move that much, right?" . . . . Wrong! He moved and he kept moving the sound equipment. So, when I started getting the hang of when to work on him and when to work on the equpiment, then his show was ending. So, I faked it and hide his right arm at his side.

He had a great voice and told some wonderful stories about banshees and such. We heard stories a few years back about how wonderful our Grandfather used to sing these old Irish songs. People used to say that his voice was so beautiful, it made people weep. Some of his friends had even offered him money to send him to New York to record, but he'd never gone. It's so sad, but neither me, nor my sisters had ever heard him sing.

Walnut Wednesdays

If there's one eternal truth about Clevelanders, it's that we love food. We love good food, whether it's a fine restaurant, a quick service counter, a deli, or a food truck. "If it's good, it's good," seems to be the motto.

On Wednesdays, 8-10 food trucks set up on Walnut Ave. off of East 9th St for lunch hour. If you haven't been there, you'll know where it is, just follow all of the people emerging from the business buildings as they head over to get their lunch. Show up early, because the lines get long and entangled. I sat on the south side of Walnut to draw. When I was done with my sketch, the lines were far too long for me to stand out in the hot sun, but I was in the minority. There were lots of people standing out in the sun, having a good time, waiting for their lunches. Even men in heavy suits were out sweating in the sun to get the good food.

This happens from about 11:30-1:00pm every Wednesday. If you don't work downtown, I suggest getting a parking space on East 12th north of Superior (near Charter One). Cars leave those spots frequently, and if for some reason, there isn't one free, just circle the block. Though, I had no trouble getting a spot there at a meter, and I was only about 2 blocks from where the trucks were set up.

Taste of Tremont

Enjoyed a gloriously hot summer afternoon at the Taste of Tremont. We got there before it actually started so that we would be able to get a good sketch in before the crowds showed up. And, boy, did the crowds show up! Lots and lots of people were there. Last year, they estimated 20,000 people there.

So, what did we eat? It was good that all of the booths had small servings, because you get a better taste. We started with Chicken Paprikash, but I'm not sure who it was from. Then, my friend got mac and cheese from Lolita. Then, I got nachos from Grumpy's which had 3 kinds of beans and a great salty/sweet taste. We never did identify the sweet, though it might have been on the chips. Then, fried wonton chips with bacon quacamole from bac. Then, I saw on facebook that Lilly Chocolates was going to have ice cream floats. I had an orange cream soda float (with malted vanilla bean ice cream), Noreen had a root beer float. Then, we hit up Cookie and a Cupcake. Now, I've heard a lot about them, but I had figured that it was all hype. I mean, they're cupcakes, seriously. . . . Okay, now. . . . Let me just say, it was incredible. I just went for a yellow cake with chocolate ice cream, and it was truly the best! I was going to get short rib sliders from Dim and Den Sum, but they sold out in the first 20-30 minutes, which uh, seriously? The event was to go on for 8-9 hours!

If that wasn't enough, I got a cabbage roll from Prosperity Social Club to take home. It was great too.

That's not counting the cute necklace that I got for $4 from Banyan Tree. We were there for about four hours. We strolled into St. John's to look around, and it's shocking that churches as beautiful as this may one day disappear.

Dr. Seuss Sculpture Display

I have more time before the display leaves to draw a few more of the characters. I don't often use watercolor, but it lended itself perfectly to the sculpture.

Cleveland Botanical Gardens

It was a nice day on Sunday to sketch at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. A nice breeze cut the intensity of the hot sun, and the crowd was light. Though, once we sat down in this spot, it became the single most popular spot in the gardens. Since it was also a dead-end, people had to pass us twice. Everyone was so nice and apologized to us, but we were actually the ones that were in the way.

It really amazes me at how some of these incredible attractions don't have crowds. This was even a day that people could bring their dogs into the gardens. When I got home, a woman joined me in the elevator, and I said something like, "Beautiful day out, huh?" She said right before she got out on her floor, "What does it matter? There's nothing to do!" Seriously? Nothing to do? You've got to be crazy! Sometimes there is so much to do, I can't narrow it into the time I have available.

Cleveland Institute of Music

Was meeting a friend at the Cleveland Botanical Garden today, and I showed up early to draw around Wade Oval again this week. It was nice and shady across the street from the Cleveland Institute of Music, so I settled in there to draw.

West Side Market Sketchcrawl

Spent the morning and a good amount of time afternoon with the Cleveland Sketchcrawl group. This group gets together once a month to sketch around the city. Anyone of any skill level is welcomed. After 2 hours of drawing, we broke for lunch at the Great Lakes Brewery. It was the perfect weather to sit outside and have a beer and some good conversation.

The top sketch is from the alley that sits between the two parts of the West Side Market. It was interesting to draw the backside of one of the food stalls, except the boxes were moving so fast that I would leave space for one, turn around, and it would be gone. Then, I would start drawing something else, and a big pile of boxes would appear in front of it.



This second sketch was from after lunch. When I walked to my car to get my wallet for lunch, I saw that this Airstream trailer had pulled in. It's a mobile vintage clothing store. Very clever and quite cute. A lot of people were going in and out of it, but I didn't see them sell anything.

Cool Globes in Wade Oval

Cleveland GardenWalk 2011