Union Depot - With MetroSketchers

So I've been secretly dying to check this place out ever since it was remodeled (I was also secretly dying to check it out before it was remodeled... urban spelunking anyone?). It's amazing to see a place not only go through such an involved remodeling effort, but come back to life in the original use it was intended for. Right now is a great time for sketching as it is open public space, and the light rail that will connect St. Paul and Minneapolis (finally) is not quite up and running yet.  Even with hoards of people though, I'm sure we'd still find a way to sketch.

The beautifully remodeled waiting room

 

One of my favorite parts of the gathering - sharing our sketches

 

 

Saint Paul above from the private rooftop deck for depot residents

 

 

 

Irving Park

 

 

Finally - the first really warm day when you can actually sit outside and not want to leave within 5 minutes because you are cold! In celebration we headed down to Irving Park for a sketching session. I often forget about this one, it's just a little bit further than my usual walking routes, it's tucked in a historic neighborhood, and it's simple and quite small. Being spring, everything was still brown and grey, so we'll definitely have to come back here in the summer.  The park itself is quite a popular place for weddings in the summer surrounded by well preserved historic houses, the park also serves as the namesake for the neighborhood. As tempting as it is sometimes to draw those historic houses, I settled on the fountain center piece this time.

 

As a side note, I'm practicing trying to draw quicker - Look, no ruler!

 

 

St. Paul Conservatory with MetroSketchers

Wow! Sketching at the St. Paul Conservatory this afternoon was absolutely amazing. This annual event marked the third anniversary of the Metrosketchers, as well as an up and coming spot on channel 11 news (next Sunday) and a wonderful afternoon with my dear friend Claire, and fellow lady-architect sketcher.

The afternoon was filled with a series of firsts.  For myself, that has been the most public and crowded place that I have openly sketched in.  For Claire, this was her first commission!  As I tend to sketch nature and spaces, Claire loves to sketch inspiring people.  After chatting with a mom with her baby daughter for a bit, she quickly offered to draw a sketch of the baby as practice. Check out this picture of them together:

And of course, us and our finished sketches!

 

And it goes without saying, a huge thanks to the dedication of Liz Carlson a Tim Jennan for all the time, dedication, and passion they put into this to bring us all together. 

Sunday's at Nina's Cafe

Nina's Café on Selby has easily become our café of choice for a Sunday morning "relax over coffee, but get something fun done," session. In my case, this often means spending some time with my sketchbook, and in Chris's case, this means working on his business plan for the brewery. Ok, it also often means ARE study time too... But seriously, we need to have some fun too:) In the winter we find ourselves here more often then not these days as we look to get out of the apartment.

And important lesson was learned on this morning is if we don't want to be sketched while we are working on the business plan, then we should sit at a table more a the perimeter of the space so Jodi can draw the architecture and other people instead (see sketch above).

Sometimes we don't get to stay for too long, just enough time to have a quick cup of coffee and be on our way.

Back to the very beginning, this was one of the first sketches I did this summer on one of our first business plan/sketching outings.