Four days in and around Lisbon. Gorgeous cloudless weather. So many amazing artists I'd only known online -- in one place. And nothing to think about all day but "What shall I sketch next?"*

*Okay, those of you who know me can probably guess that I was also scouting out where we'd eat next, too. Turns out it's NOT so hard to be vegetarian in Lisbon after all.

But on to the important stuff. Here's my visual diary of our workshops and Sketchcrawl.

We started with a bit of anthropology -- a study of urban ethnography in tiny Largo de Barao de Quintela. At first glance, not so visually interesting, but we were in the midst of a veritable turf battle among pedestrians, vehicles, recycling receptacles, fire trucks, dogs. So I sketched one perspective first, and then turned around and drew another.





The Environments workshop had us peering down a steep staircase toward the typical Lisbon sea of terracotta roofs and pastel walls, with the castle looming in the distance.



Then we ducked into a little cafe, to capture some interior life.



We began the second day with a panel discussion; most of us were already walk-weary from the cobblestones lining the alternately soaring and plunging terrain.



In the Contrasts workshop, we negotiated stairsteps on Rua da Bica alongside iconic yellow-and-white trams, painting as they ferried passengers up and down.



By that afternoon, I was cranky-tired and not in a drawing mood (sorry, Cityscapes workshop!). But after dinner by the docks, I had enough energy for a sketch of the scene in the twilight.



Our last day began with "Light of Lisboa" -- an attempt to force the brilliant light of the city onto our sketchbook pages. First, in graphite:





And then, in watercolor:



We closed the symposium with the 32nd Worldwide Sketchcrawl, in Praca do Comercio.









Only one question remains: Where will next year's symposium be???

Woke up last weekend craving a boat ride -- and remembered that the Norwalk Seaport Association runs ferry cruises out to Sheffield Island. Packed up a picnic lunch and headed off to the dock in SoNo. The three-hour excursion went by fast! I barely managed to dash off this quick sketch after our lunch, lighthouse tour, and hike. Lovely outing for a gorgeous summer day.

On the last day of my second trip to London for work, I woke up around 4 a.m. to see the Bermondsey Square Antiques Market. Figured since I was staying at the hotel directly above, I shouldn't pass up the opportunity.

Unfortunately the skies had decided to open up, so there was little other than a few grumpy vendors complaining about the rain (in London? really?) until well past 6 a.m.

While I waited for more dealers to set up, I trekked 20 minutes north to More London to find a working ATM, but even by the time I got back there was nothing compelling to buy. So I had breakfast in the hotel and sketched the scene outside.

In the last three weeks I've been in two countries and five states (seven, if you count airport layovers). My sketchbook came along for the ride, but it wasn't always easy to find time for drawing. And sometimes the weather was just plain uncooperative (NoLa, I'm lookin' at you).

My first jaunt was to Cleveland. Naturally I timed my arrival to coincide with that of the midges. They were everywhere -- swarming cars, storefronts and all. Still, I did manage to step outside and fend them off long enough to do a quick sketch of the skyline from the plaza outside the Marriott Key Center.



A week later, I was in London. No sketches this time -- was wandering a new neighborhood between back-to-back meetings and dinners.

The end of the week found me in New Orleans -- where it was hot, sticky, and uncomfortable. I mostly sketched from the coolness of the hotel room, 10 floors above the Mississippi River.





Oh, and I did manage to draw between courses during Sunday jazz brunch at Commander's Palace:



Hoping my next two trips -- back to London, and then to Lisbon -- will offer better weather...

It's been some time in the making, but I finally redid the sky, added the houses, and signed it. It's quite different from the photo it's based on -- I took the photo in bleak winter many years ago, and clearly the painting is of a much sunnier time.



The Road, Donegal; oil on panel, 13.5" x 13.5" framed.

Yes, I paint lifeguards often, I know -- but then again, I do live near the beach, and I am fascinated by the graphic quality of their perch against the sky. This painting was larger before, but I wasn't happy with the other figure in it so I cropped and reframed it to include only the one.

My painting "Look Out" was accepted into the Connecticut Watercolor Society's 71st annual juried exhibition. It's on display (and for sale) until June 26 at the John Slade Ely House in New Haven, Conn. Go see the show if you're in the area!

Walked off to the beach the other day for some inspiration and found it. Dashed off this quick sketch with a pencil, a small box of watercolors, and a waterbrush. As usual I like my sketch -- done in about 10 minutes -- better than the painting I did later over several hours! While I was working, two little girls, about 9 and 7, came up to see what I was doing. They asked if I liked to draw people. I said yes, but also noted that I have a hard time getting the faces to look right. I told them that's why I like drawing people from the side or back. The older girl promptly replied, "Well, let us know if you'd like to draw US from the back, and we'll freeze for you!"

No, not on the Amtrak -- but I HAVE been traveling several weekends in a row, can you tell? Here's a roundup post of all our adventures!

Before heading down to Philadelphia for my 15th reunion at Penn, M. and I went to Bar Rosso in Stamford for dinner on "opening" night. Glad they finally got everything worked out. Enjoyed the food and the view of the pizza oven from the second floor:



The next morning, we headed down to PA. Our first stop was the Northern Liberties neighborhood, to check out the interesting shops and eateries. We stopped for a hot drink at the perfectly decorated One Shot Coffee:



When we got to campus, I vainly attempted to sketch -- but the reunion tents had invaded! It was hard to get a good view of anything.

Here's a rather abstract view of College Green, with trees, tents and Ben:



Saturday morning we went to a flea market in West Philly's Clark Park, where some characters were hanging out and talking about the benefits of exercise and cranberry juice. Wasn't terribly happy with the sketch so I turned this one into more of an abstract compositional exercise.



This past weekend, M. spoke at the Gaithersburg Book Festival in Maryland. On Friday I toured the fabulous Baltimore Watercolor Society 2011 Mid-Atlantic Regional Exhibition at the Strathmore Mansion in Rockville and then took the Metro down to D.C. to see the Phillips Collection. After all that inspiration, I just had to draw -- so I parked myself in Dupont Circle near the fountain.



Saturday was gloriously sunny -- we went for an early morning ride on the hiker-biker trail at Rock Creek Regional Park, and then I sat at the playground and sketched various people at the Gaithersburg Book Festival. My use of a dip pen attracted a lot of curious attention!



We ended the evening with a swing dance at the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park -- such fun!

Just a few more days till I head to Philadelphia for my 15th reunion at Penn. Hotel's booked, reunion schedule's loaded onto my iPhone, plans have been made with faraway friends.

Our class was one of the first to get email/Internet (Telnet and Mosaic, anyone?), so there isn't much of an electronic archive to pull up from my time on campus. Of course, I've dug up old photos and college house newsletters to laugh over; might even make an early '90s mix tape -- uh, iTunes playlist -- for the drive down from Connecticut. But for me, what brings back the memories most vividly are my sketchbooks. It was my way of navigating the college experience, learning my way around a new city, adapting to the unfamiliar.

So here's a look back at my Penn undergraduate experience, in works on paper.

When I moved into English House (aka Kings Court English) as a freshman, I found that my dorm room window overlooked the construction site of the law school addition. For the first few days, we didn't have any curtains up, so it was like living in a fishbowl. There were construction workers right outside, and they could peer in. So I peered right back, and drew them.





Some of my classmates had teddy bears for comfort -- they turned up in my sketchbook, too.



We didn't have laptops then, so when we weren't in our dorm rooms or computer labs, we studied with notebooks and pens. Furness (aka the Fisher Fine Arts Library, designed by Frank Furness) was a popular, and visually stunning, place to hit the books.







In nice weather, it was all about College Green.







Sometimes I killed time before classes by sketching the decor -- here's a rendering of the sunflowers in the Annenberg School building.



As an upperclassman, I lived in an apartment in High Rise East (Harnwell House) with three roommates. One of the first things I did when I got there was to sketch out a color scheme and layout for my room. (Very Martha, I know.)



Of course, one of the best parts of going to Penn was being a few steps away from all of Philadelphia. Here's a hasty sketch of the city that I did from the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.



Since I'm on the reunion and class gift committees, there are a few must-attend alumni events over the three days I'll be on campus. But I'll definitely make time to feed my muse as well, with visits to the Sheila Hicks retrospective at the ICA, what's left of Secrets of the Silk Road at the Penn Museum, and Lauren Greenfield's Girl Culture at the Arthur Ross Gallery.

And naturally I'll be toting along my watercolors and a fountain pen or two, to record new memories of Penn. Go Quakers!

M.'s grandmother turned 90 last week -- so I embroidered a picture of her dog on a vintage handkerchief as a gift.

 Yeah, I should really stick to watercolors, huh? :)

Sometimes you just need to fall in love with the city again.

So, yesterday: Roamed Barnes & Noble in Union Square; sipped drinks in the cozy, technically guests-only lobby bar of the Bowery Hotel (sketched above); savored delectable tacos at Hecho en Dumbo; and then met amazing children's book illustrators at Scholastic's charity auction reception for their "Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life" literacy campaign. (Go bid on their work!) Humbled by what these artists do with brush, ink and paints.

Still glad I don't live in Manhattan anymore. Still glad I'm just an express train away.

I promised a post on the stuff I bought a few weeks ago in the UK -- and here it is! When I wasn't sketching London, I was busy touring its art supply stores. This time I went to some modern ones,  though I do love the older classic stores like Green & Stone or L. Cornelissen & Son. There's a list of shops online here.

First, a visit to a familiar chain: Cass Art. I LOVE their tagline.

They even had a watercolor promotion going on to coincide with the "Watercolour" exhibition at the Tate Britain.

Then, I proceeded to London Graphic Centre where I just had to take a picture of their colorful doorway installation, made of pens:

















And finally, a helpful person at the Royal Watercolour Society/Bankside Gallery told me about the veritable warehouse known as Atlantis Art Materials, on Hanbury Street near Brick Lane and Shoreditch High Street, with tons and tons of different kinds of paper, among other supplies:


















 So what did I purchase? Mostly, things that are either less expensive there or can't easily be found in U.S. stores near me.

• A spiral bound Saunders Waterford artists' watercolor paper field book
• A spiral bound brown paper sketchbook -- thinking it might work with gouache-y techniques
• A watercolor travel brush with flat (instead of round) bristles -- loving this!
• A small Winsor & Newton pocket set (which came with a watercolor postcard book)
• A Daler-Rowney acrylic paper pad, to try with watercolors

(Yes, that's one tiny and rather useless travel brush that's included with the set; luckily I have others!)
I also bought some UK art magazines at the Bankside Gallery's little shop -- great for finding out about workshops, classes, etc.

Now I just need to get sketching!