Feet and Books from Winter Interrupted

Wow, what can I say?! What fun we had at the beach!

Eight of us spent five glorious days sketching all up and down St. Pete Beach and into Clearwater at Winter Interrupted: An Artist's Beach Sketching Holiday. We sketched everything from giraffes to old gardens to ocean critters to fish shacks!

We spent the day sketching, eating and shopping at John's Pass

It was fun hearing everyone report the weather conditions "back home" each morning as we gathered for the days outing. There was only one day it was warmer in another location pass the Mason Dixon line than it was where we were at the beach even though some of our day's started out kind of chilly!

Imaginary Trips Made Real is the natural extension of the ImaginaryTrips.com online classes. We  put the skills we've learned online into action at fabulous live locations like the beach. But I gotta tell you, the location is secondary.

An afternoon spent in another beach town sketching, shopping, laughing and talking

It is the camaraderie that comes alive on these trips and weaves itself in and around a group of like-minded artists to creates magic: colors are more colorful; the air is a little brighter; the fun a little funner and makes the moment all the sweeter that is most important.

It is positive-uplifting-battery-charging magic that's even better than therapy! Imagine spending a week with people who understand when you come to a dead stop in your conversation as well as the street to take a photo of some adirondack chairs with parrots painted on the back or when you pull out your sketchbook at lunch instead of eating your meal. No explanations were necessary.

We saw adirondack chairs with parrots, flip-flops and ice-cream cones for the back boards!

We shared about ourselves, our lives, our families, and the challenges that we face in that other life we left at home. We laughed until our cheeks hurt and we talked late into the evening more often than not.

Three of the intrepid sketchers braving the chilly winds come in off the Gulf of Mexico

We ogled each others supplies and kits and made notes on where to get those special pens or fabulous palettes.

Yummy, messy, juicy color!

Art and Imaginary Trips Made Real is not just about the pages we fill or the places we visit or the things we learn. It is about the entire experience and maybe most important, about the connections we make to others and I can hardly wait to do it again!

Wave Demo Page

In fact, I'm already looking into the next adventure—I hope you can join us!!

Where would you like to go on a sketching holiday?

Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook Watercolor and Ink 5.5 x 8.5 inches

We are 13 days out from Winter Interrupted: An Artist's Beach Holiday being held at St. Pete Beach…don't you want to come and play!?!

There's still two spots left!

We'll be going to all kinds of fun locations to sketch including old Florida gardens, an marine aquarium and of course, the beach! When we're not out sketching, we'll be lounging in our big blue cabanas at the TradeWinds' Island Grand Resort.

I started my sketchbook page, seen at the left, way back in June and you can see the beginnings of the page here. I used torn tape to create the deckled edges and then created the starfish and title block on other papers to add interest to the page.

These are some of the fun things we'll be learning during the workshop. Interested?

Our temps are forecasted to be in the 70's tomorrow. Later in the week, we're forecast to go down into the 40's—for one day.

I know you gotta be sick of snow, freezing temperatures and gray skies by now, so come on down!

Go here for more information and if you have any questions, just let me know.

I hope to see you there!