Bayport is a small river town south of Stillwater and I had the opportunity to sketch there last weekend. Normally, I drive through this town on the way to Stillwater, but last year I went to a park on the river and it was beautiful, so one evening I chose it as my sketching destination. Sometimes you just have to get in the car and drive around and see what you find!
My first sketch was in the Lakeside park itself, but a large area by the ball diamond was flooded. Old trees with peeling bark grabbed my interest, as did the submerged yellow picnic tables. Ducks and geese paddled around where children normally play. It was an odd scene! Right behind me was a fence along the driveway and as Bayport has a marina, many boats were in storage, their thick white and blue winter wrappings lighting up the landscape of browns and greens. I sketched a large boat that had no wrapper:
Finally, dusk was setting in, and I decided it was time to head home. I went up one side street and saw an interesting view on the back of Woody’s Bar and Grill. Mopeds and a truck added nice visual interest to the piles of steel panels and back of the restaurant. It looked a little messy, but I liked it. A woman stood and looked at her phone so was a nice addition to the sketch. I liked the silver and maroon colors mixing together!
A couple days later, I headed back to Bayport to see what else I could sketch. I drove near the entrance of the park once again, as I noticed rail signals the other day. I parked nearby and decided to sketch the crossing as well. The blue wrappers on the boats were what I had seen only days before.
Finally, I headed up a street into a residential neighborhood. I drove around a bit and couldn’t find anything that grabbed me to sketch. I turned around and drove down a street back to the main drag and happened to see a very sketch-able sight: An old green truck parked at an old-fashioned gas station, complete with old red Shell pumps. Jackpot! I couldn’t pass it up. Its bright red and yellow colors and the style of the station, now an automotive shop, was a great thing to sketch.
I settled in my car and worked with pen first, then added watercolors. I liked the contrast of colors and the details on the pumps and trunks. The boat was an added bonus. After awhile, as I cleaned up and was ready to leave, a cream colored old car (looked like a Studebaker, the type that Fozzie The Bear drove in the Muppet movie), pulled into the station. Unfortunately, I had to go home or I would have added that too.
It was fun to discover the interesting secrets of a small town like Bayport. Something I normally pass by showed it had sketch-able areas, and I’m glad I stopped and had a look!