Tis the Season

After a very fun exhibition at Skaneateles Bakery from August through November, I had the privilege of receiving 3 commissions for Christmas cards. Below are the three plus the one I did for our family.

top left: Petrie Family Card; Top right : Skaneateles Bakery;
Bottom Left: Western Lights Liquors; Bottom right: my friend Marbeth Sweeney.

Kids sketches

My oldest boy turned 5 last week. To carry on his dad's obsession, I had him draw a picture for friends and family on postcards to be sent out as 'thank you' notes. Here are three of my favorite. our little girl got in on the fun when she asked me to draw her a dinosaur. I obliged and then she began to color a story around it.

top left: a turtle ( I added the eyes)
top right: a 'mixed up' rainbow
bottom left: a hammer head shark ( i added eyes, etc.)
bottom right: a red dinosaur

Salt Lake City Coffee review

I have no idea how much money I have spent on coffee. I am sure if I had invested every dime instead of downing each caffeinated concoction, I would probably have more time to experience coffee...around the world with out fear of being late to work...that or I would have had enough to get the first of my children through school. Either way, my habit continues and having visited recently Salt Lake City, I got into a search and discover mode of trying to discover the local coffee fare.

Two discoveries were made. Sugarhouse Coffee and Coffee Garden. Both have a type of grunge chic, with minimal decor and and various seating options. Sugarhouse seems to have found itself in what looks to be a gentrified area of SLC. The coffee was okay, the house, spacious. Compositionally the colors were magnificent and the volume allowed for an interesting sketch. The girl at the counter is the same girl sitting at the table on the left, writing vigorously in her journal.

The second discovery was found at the Nines, the intersection of 900 East and 900 North. a very small intersection of arts trying really hard to be hip. This coffee shop was dense with very studious people, all distressed staring into their laptops as if to say every noise at a busy coffee shop was intruding into their personal endeavors and temporary occupancy of an uncomfortable bench. The coffee was very good. and while the seating area seemed typical the counter space was decadent. It also helped that a genuine gelato shop was just east at the next corner.

Atlanta to Syracuse

On an early morning flight from Atlanta to Syracuse, I was able to have breakfast in the Atlanta airport (cafe intermezzo) and then for lunch, coffee at cafe Kubal in syracuse...then off to teach. Busy morning.

Skaneateles Bakery Morning Sketch

A calm morning and an interlude after dropping off my oldest boy at preschool, I stopped by to see how the exhibit was holding up at Skaneateles Bakery. Not too crowded and wanting to generate a postcard for a recently re-acquainted friend from school, I took the opportunity to do some morning "exercises".

In Memory.

This sketch was done this day 11 years ago while living in Washington DC.

Riding my bike into work I saw the black column of smoke rising over the Pentagon, riding home...it remained, dark and still rising. Work was meaningless that day as the news of the attack stumbled in.

That evening...in an act of grieving...came this sketch...

in memory.

Cafe Impressions : on exhibit

Skaneateles Bakery + Cafe has been one of my and my wife's favorite little cafe ever since we got married. For awhile we have watched art work go up and down from their walls and just recently the owners, Katie and Chris, invited me to display some of my work. I decided to go with a small show of cafe postcards, appropriate for the venue, with 9 cards being specific to Skaneateles bakery or skaneateles the town. (displayed on the right as you enter) We even made bakery post cards for customers to purchase and post!

Two Meals

The last few weeks my wife and I have had the pleasure of enjoying some meals alone (with a tiny chaperone in our 7 month old). For our anniversary we went to Jolle's French Bistro in Skaneateles, NY. A wonderful, european garden eatery that was complimented by a fantastic meal and the introduction to new friends who took sweetly, to our chaperone. This sketch the watercolour was applied first and after drying and during dessert the lines found their place.

We have just returned from a nice trip to Dallas (again alone with the exception of the ever present chaperone). Our first outing, meal, sketch right after arriving was to go to an amazing little restaurant Oddfellows in Dallas NY. ( http://oddfellowsdallas.com ). If ever the chance presents itself, take the time to enjoy an espresso, a meal and the atmosphere. This is a thank you to the staff for making Dallas' first impression positive and lasting.

Girl Reading

On a recent flight this wonderfully linear passenger across the aisle from me oscillated between reading and sleeping...the lines of the yellow skirt and the supportive elbow /arms, were so still and well placed, over the four hour flight some quick sketches were inevitable. This is the outcome after 10 minutes of capturing the lines.

Portneuf Restaurant

The Portneuf Valley Brewing is a great little restaurant in Pocatello Idaho. Quaint and kind...the homemade Pizza was absolutely fantastic. The joint has to be discovered as it is in a part of town where you would think would not house such a gem.

Abigail's B&B

Recently I have had the great opportunity to meet Jill and Scott at Abigail's Bed and Breakfast. A wonderful and warm interior is only bettered by the breakfast: Home made breead and jam, eggs benedict, caramel baked french toast....and the fresh berry parfait...so good so good...as with the views, too!

Fathers Day Sketching

For Fathers Day my wife gave me an amazing gift...time to sketch. She got a sitter for an afternoon for our two oldest and took me and the baby out to coffee in Skaneateles, NY. Taking in a slow lunch and some quick lines we had a relaxing time . . . a rarity and delight!

another fascination for me are the overlapping geometries in our backyard. with the angles of the roofs and the change of scale with the play-fort it makes a dynamic composition of figure and field relations. This sketch was exploring those geometries and the shadow play of the tree crown overhead.

Flowers for Mommy

So in an ever relentless and seemingly unimproving exercise of love, the flowers given to my wife on holidays (namely Valentines and Mothers day) are forever recorded in a watercolour sketch. But as I amass more and more of these visual ventures I'm always confronted by my own impatience and shortcomings when it comes to watercolours. So the sentiment is always more sweet then the work, but the lessons remain both invaluable and humbling...

The best bit of it is...my kids watch me do these little labors and they now watercolour, too. Even getting a little paper snobby on me when I try to give them inferior paper. Another cool thing is, for mothers Day, my wife doesn't want me buying flowers...that doesn't mean she doesn't WANT flowers...so my boy and I go the park and pick out what ever we can that will work...not much blooming this year so we got a bunck of colorful weeds and grassy plants. Ha! the memories are often times the product of the skecth!

Airline perspectives

So I have been flying around a bit. I love to fly. Despite the thrill of leaving terra firma and soaring through clouds and looking at the scale of the earth as it diminishes as the flight rises...the extended time in one location, taking in a singular point of view, having to pass time. I don't know about you...but I can read for about 6 minutes on the plane before I'm awkwardly asleep against the window or an unsuspecting neighbor. But if I draw, I stay engaged. Looking for compositions...here are a few of a common theme.

O'Hare layover sketch

Traveling back from Dallas to Syracuse this week,  I had a flight cancelled in Chicago. This gave me an unexpected 4 hour layover. Ample time to traverse the concourses and see the many spaces that link travelers with commerce and flights. So I walked by Wolfgang Puck's restaurant and noticed they had paper atop there linen covered tables. I also saw an opportunity. Since I had the time, I chose a seat that provided a great perspective through the terminal. and so through the course of the meal this drawing was generated.

and then a quick re-peat in the sketchbook.

At the end of the meal the waitress asked if I was going to throw it away. I said it was her table and she could do with it what she'd like. I paid my tab, got up and left. When aptly lost in the many passing by I looked back and saw she had brought some staff over. She loved it and kept it. Funny how a simple sketch can connect with someone...when what they take for granted is elevated to art asking them to take inventory of their location in a new (and maybe inspiring) way.

Oddfellows - Dallas

I was in Dallas a few weeks ago and thanks to a savvy city guide, they listed this quirky restaurant in Oak Cliff, a district near Dallas, Texas. Oddfellows is an amazing, warm, unhurried environment, where I out did myself with Breakfast...The Bacon...perfect, huevos Rancheros: spot on; and the coffee...worth the trip alone from Syracuse! If you are in Dallas, go here. Sketch. Eat. Enjoy. no rush.

Andrew Petrie comes home

To cap off an amazing year...we had the amazing blessing of wecoming Andrew into our lives. My wife delivered Andrew at 6:57 am Dec 31, 2011. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 11 oz. healthy and fiesty, he and mom are doing great. We just brought them home today. En route we stopped at Kubal for a nice lunch and coffee.here is his first coffee sketch. Below, a photo of his first hour of being here and his first impressions. so happy!