Red Balloon

One red balloon found in a tree at the park...

To see more of my art you can check out my personal blog in the sidebar or go to www.feliciafollum.blogspot.com

Columbia Park: The Old Lagoon

Every time I go here, I have to sit and let the nostalgia blanket over me. As a teenager in the mid-sixties, this was the "go-to" place in the summer, filled with teens from Pasco, Kennewick and Richland, Washington, swimming, sun-bathing, eating hot-dogs and ice cream, and drinking pop from the concession stand (which is still there, but boarded up). We called it the "Lagoon" - today it is the Fish Pond - so much for romanticism and excitement...

The road leading into the lagoon was a dirt-road filled with deep potholes. You had to be careful driving in, especially if you drove an old car like most of us did in those days. As the years rolled by the water was found to be polluted from the septic tanks up on the hill in the distance where I left out all the homes that line the ridge. And it was closed to us human forms for anything other than the relaxation one gets from the peacefulness (minus the road noise from the freeway).

So when I sit here, I see all the girls in their bikinis, the guys out on the floating dock in the middle jumping off the edges, the yelling, and the laughter, and all the old cars and hot rods that used to line the edges. Makes me wonder where they all went.

Gone are the Days.

Columbia Park Playground of Dreams

Since we were there on a school day at 10am, there wasn't a kid anywhere in sight at the Playground of Dreams down in Columbia Park this morning.  This fort looking play area was built about 8 or 9 years ago with community donated funds.  Almost as soon as it was finished, it burned to the ground, then rebuilt.  On a warm, sunny day, when school is out, the place crawls with kids. It is a great place for them to play.

Great morning with the sun shining on my face.  Great peeps.  Trying to do a little water color sketching...what ever that is ;)

Active Lifestyles in the Tri Cities

 USTA Men's Tennis Competition this weekend, so I snuck a moment of the action at Columbia Basin Racquet Club, Richland Washington.  Fierce tennis is being played on all 6 indoor courts this weekend.   By day, I am a tennis professional, movement is an emphasis on court.  I need so much practice in sketching movement.

 At our latest outing, we were at the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center.  I opted to sketch Leslie, one of our Tri City US!

 This afternoon I took the opportunity to enjoy nature at the McNary Wildlife Refuge, Burbank, Washington.  There were plenty of high powered scopes on tripods promoting the beautiful birds of the Columbia Basin.

The snow geese are in abundance and restless resting before their continued northern migratory flight. I caught the snow geese in action, like swarming bees!

Buttons and old socks

Today, at my friend, Jan's house, from across the table, I sketched her sorting her treasure of buttons.
I hadn't a clue she collected buttons, or old socks to be made into wonderfully thick pot holders.  Last week, I sketched with my local urban sketcher group at a coffee shop.  I also focused on sketching people, coffee cups and instead of buttons, sketching supplies.

Cincinnati and The Hall of Justice

Family game marathon over Christmas break in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati was noted for it's street cars

Definitely a must see and experience, not only the model trains and model city.  The Hall of Justice was fashioned after the Cincinnati Museum Center, home to extraordinaire exhibits.  I believe there are seven floors in the natural science and history museum.  I loved the tiled murals in the entry ......

Leaving Cincinnati, we circled the run way by driving to Perfect North, to see what  400 vertical feet looked like.  Over Christmas our niece skied Innsbrook, will she ever be able to ski Perfect North with the same enthusiasm?  Note that the two noodlers on the left must have been the big fish!

Earlier today, in Kennewick at The Local cafe, the two barista dudes were in constant motion creating their drinks.  It was fun to sketch these two at work.
patti kirch

"Support of Urban Sketchers the Season"

Our friends on the Urban Sketchers board remind us that our donations can help this non-profit organization keep growing and inspiring people around the world. Why not support the scholarship program as a way to start the new year off on the right foot?  

Here's the link to check it out. 

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, and may 2015 be full of inspiration, adventure, friendships, and joy. 

"Mercer Estates and Sixth Street Art Gallery's Holiday Festival"

L to R:  Dave Poynter, Patti Kirch, Felicia Follum, Denise Bowles, Gail Roadhouse,
Rachel Lucas Bertsch, Jim Bumgarner, Jan Taylor.

Carol Ashby of the "Sixth Street Art Gallery," in Prosser, invited us to participate in the Festival this year. We had an excellent turn-out with the eight you see in the pic above.  As you can see the location is rather exotic with all the wine barrels lining both sides of the area where the festival was held.  As is always the case, we had a nice time and look forward to doing this again.

Kennewick Fire Department

A few weeks back the Tri-Cities Urban Sketchers had the opportunity to visit the Kennewick Fire Department for our weekly draw session.  The row of fire hoses were interestingly rhythmic and perfect for a drawing.

Sketch by Felicia Follum

"Mercer Estates and Sixth Street Art Gallery Holiday Festival"

Thanks to Carol Ashby of the Sixth Street Art Gallery in Prosser for inviting us to participate in the Annual Mercer Estates & Sixth Street Art Gallery's Holiday Festival held at Mercer Estates each December.

Food Court Sketching in the Mall

Urban Sketchers: TriCities ventured into the cold and dark morning hours to meet up in the local mall to sketch whatever they could find to sketch:  mostly people.  I chose to try to capture some of the peeps that ventured through the food caldrons.

"Congo Rhythms at the Farmers' Market"

I love African and Latino rhythms and this guy was doing it up good at the Richland Farmers' Market this morning.  He was with "Tom..?", the same guy Nancy, Dave and I sketched out at Terra Blanca Winery a couple of years ago.

They were a powerful duo.  Great recognizable, and not recognizable songs, all flavored by these congo drums this guy was massaging.

I had to try to capture him, so here are a series of sketches all on the same page with a couple of thumbnails and Tom, in the green shirt.

Great fun.

"Cruisin' on the Columbia"

This sternwheeling cruise ship comes into the dock at Howard Amon park in Richland, WA., frequently. I happened to be driving to Richland today and noticed it on the river, so I hot-wheeled it down to the benches just off the dock and sketched it coming in.  The park was quiet today, hardly anyone there, but fortunately this lady jumped in the frame to get a few pics, so now she's in my sketch.

how to "PICKUP" urban sketchers 101

An assignment, I'm going to sketch…… no wait, "Red Pickup"  Attention getter for sure!
This is Jim Bumgarner's two week old Ford pickup.  Next Wednesday I will be in Moscow, Idaho at Jean Pierre and Yael's Tapestry Book Release presentation!!  On my to do list for today, I was suppose to sketch something that I can use for a small format tapestry study.  Dang,  Jim's truck got me good!! lol
Okay, back to tapestry…….  patti kirch